Following a terrible 2022-23 campaign in which Liverpool failed to seriously challenge for any silverware and finished fifth in the Premier League, the Reds have conducted some shrewd transfer business early in the summer window.
Alexis Mac Allister is already on board and Dominik Szoboszlai looks set to follow, while Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Manu Kone could be next to arrive at Anfield in time for pre-season.
Who is Liverpool target Manu Kone?
According to Ouest France, Liverpool are very interested in Kone and a move for the 22-year-old could even be wrapped up in the coming days.
Kone boasts plenty of experience of top-level football, having spent two seasons in Ligue 1 with Toulouse and the past two seasons as a regular for Gladbach in the Bundesliga.
Sky Sport Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg recently suggested Kone is valued at a reasonable €30m (£26m) by the German side, despite having two years to run on his contract.
Is Manu Kone a good option for Liverpool?
That valuation seems very small when you consider there are plenty of similarities between Kone and Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo, who Chelsea are reportedly willing to pay £80m to sign.
Indeed, Kone completed a very similar number of passes to Caicedo last season (86.2% v 88.5%), as per FBref, while they won a similar number of tackles per 90 minutes (1.34 v 1.43) and recovered the ball at a similar rate (7.62 v 7.11 per 90).
Even when it comes to the more attacking metrics, there is also nothing between them as Kone scored 0.03 goals per 90 minutes and assisted the same number, which is exactly the same for Caicedo (one goal and one assist each in 2022-23).
Described as an "absolutely immense" player by football writer Josh Bunting, Kone ranks in the top 11% of all midfielders across Europe's top five leagues for possession won last season, as per The Analyst. Caicedo, for what it is worth, is in the top 12%.
There are still areas in which the France U21 international can improve, ranked as he is in the bottom 57% for interceptions among midfielders in Europe's top five leagues, as per FBref.
But at around a third of the cost of Caicedo, and with Gladbach seemingly prepared to let the player go if his valuation is met, Klopp could land himself a proven player to complete his midfield transformation.
