Liverpool should have seen ‘next Roberto Firmino’ with scouting mission in familiar transfer spot

Liverpool is seeking transfers on all fronts this summer. With potentially key players leaving in every position, Jürgen Klopp has already confirmed the club looking ‘in all departments apart from goalkeeper at the moment’ in his most recent press conference.

As you can watch on the Blood Red YouTube channel, Klopp’s comments will be intriguing to hear for Liverpool supporters, especially as reports have emerged from Portugal which have suggested the club’s officials were in attendance to watch Porto over the weekend as the club recorded a 4-2 victory over Famalicão.

Sunday’s edition of Portuguese outlet O Jogo claimed that Liverpool scouts observed the game but the publication did not outline who the club was after.

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Of course, Liverpool has recently conducted a bit of business with Porto, bringing in Luis Díaz and also selling Marko Grujić, which means there will be good contacts between the two clubs.

In terms of who the Reds could have been looking at, perhaps the best bet is Porto’s substitute forward Evanilson. He is someone who has been on the club’s radar in the past under Klopp.

Back when he was at Fluminense the young forward was heavily scouted by the club as Brazilian outlet Netflu reported.

But in the end, Evanilson ended up moving to Porto instead, where he was on the periphery of the first team up until the last two seasons which has seen him blossom into a useful player for the Portuguese side.

Last season he scored 21 goals for the club, and this season has nine goals and nine assists averaging 0.76 goal contributions per 90.

James Nalton, writing for This is Anfield, once described Evanilson’s style of play as a ‘bit similar’ to Roberto Firmino due to being of similar height and stature which adds more intrigue considering the same weekend Liverpool officials were at Porto, the Reds’ Brazilian ace was saying his goodbyes at Anfield.

With Firmino departing, there is definitely a bit of room for another forward at Liverpool in order to fill the void the Brazilian will leave behind and Evanilson could become an interesting solution.

Liverpool have enjoyed spending money on players from the Liga NOS recently, and Evanilson is clearly someone who has been on the club’s radar for a long time.

At 23 years old, he is still relatively young and definitely fits into Klopp’s transfer strategy of trying to rejuvenate his squad.

In terms of his style, he has the pressing stats to suit Liverpool’s forward line. Perhaps not as technically gifted as Firmino, he has got that hustle and bustling nature which could make him a fan favorite in the Premier League.

He’s averaged 0.42 tackles per 90 in the final third this season in Liga NOS which ranks him in the 80th percentile among his positional peers as per FBref, and definitely makes him someone suitable to play in a gegenpressing system under Klopp.

On top of that, he has predatory finishing instincts and will also create for his teammates as well. This season among forwards in the Liga NOS, he ranks in the 95th percentile for non-penalty expected goals averaging 0.60 per 90 among his positional peers as per FBref and in the 95th percentile for goals per on target. But he also ranks in the 86th percentile for expected assists with 0.21 per 90.

As a back-up forward, he could be an astute option for Liverpool. The only question that remains is how much Porto would be willing to part ways with him for. On a long-term contract until 2027, Liverpool might have to pay a significant sum to land him.