Liverpool spent big last summer, parting with over £400million to revamp their title-winning squad. The main focus was on the attack, with the Reds bringing in Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike for a combined £300million.
Despite this, reports seemed to suggest Liverpool will be fairly active once again this summer as they look to revitalise a struggling forward line. Ekitike leads the way for goals in the league with 11, and Cody Gakpo is second behind the Frenchman with six in the English top-flight. Four-time Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah has five goals to his name, Wirtz has four, and Isak suffered a leg break in the process of scoring his second for the club.
Across the front five, they have a combined 28 goals. For a little context here, Salah claimed the Golden Boot last season with 29.
The attack just hasn’t clicked this season. Some blame the individuals. Others believe the system utilised by the head coach isn’t getting the best out of the players. With all of them struggling, the latter is more likely true. In Slot’s defence, however, the Reds are lacking two things in attack.
They lack depth and pace. Rio Ngumoha was cited as a reason the Reds didn’t bring in a replacement for Luis Diaz on the left last summer, but the youngster has been used sparingly this term with Slot hesitant to use the 17-year-old. When he has been given time on the pitch, he’s shown exactly what has been missing.
If reports are to be believed, Liverpool are in the market for a winger this summer. The top name is Yan Diomande, with the RB Leipzig man valued at around £80million. He would be a bit of a gamble, but sometimes risks pay off. This could be one of those times. However, the Reds aren’t guaranteed Champions League football next term and this could impact their summer business.
Perhaps a move for Diomande isn’t viable, perhaps Liverpool will revert to type a little. What worked for them in the past was finding undervalued targets with scalable output. It worked with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and the late Diogo Jota. It could well work again.
Someone who fits that particular profile is Brentford’s Kevin Schade.
He’ll be on Liverpool’s radar. According to reports in Germany back in 2021, the versatile attacker was on the club’s list. This was before he made the switch to Brentford.
Schade has a £60million price-tag on him, though his current contract expires in 2028. The Bees held firm last summer to get £65million for Bryan Mbeumo and £50million for Yoane Wissa, so expect them to get what they want for the Germany international.
While £60million may seem a little steep for a player with just seven Premier League goals to his name this term, the potential is there with the 24-year-old.
He netted 11 last term and he’s currently underperforming his underlying numbers. He’s more of a threat than people realise. Igor Thiago is the main man at Brentford this season, but people shouldn’t be sleeping on Schade.
He’s a low-volume attacker (1.8 shots per 90), with a strong xG performance (0.3 per 90). He takes high-value shots. In fact, just one of his 45 efforts this season has come from outside of the box. He gets into good areas and he does so on a regular basis. The fact that he has an xG per shot average of 0.16 is hugely encouraging as a wide forward.
He’s spent the majority of time on the left for the Bees and has mastered the outside-to-inside run to get behind a defensive line and into threatening areas. He has a top speed of 35.88km/h in the Premier League this term and this would see him rank second within the Liverpool squad behind Jeremie Frimpong (36.18km/h).
Schade ticks the boxes for Liverpool. He’s genuinely quick. He’s the definition of a goal threat and his output should only improve when deployed in a more attacking team.
For example, Cody Gakpo is seeing a lot more of the ball and in better areas, but his attacking numbers are only just up on what Schade is averaging for Brentford. Stick Schade in this Liverpool team and his numbers would undoubtedly spike. Combine that with the speed he possesses and the Reds would look a lot more dangerous on the whole.
Schade might not be as exciting as a Diomande but he could be just as useful and effective for this current Liverpool squad.
