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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst

Four World Cup stars Liverpool are tracking ahead of January transfer window

Well known as strategic, long-term planners when it comes to transfer targets, it's unlikely that the World Cup will have massively altered the thinking inside the recruitment department at Liverpool.

A relatively small sample size will not be enough for any one player to dramatically change the view of those in the corridors of power at Anfield, particularly when so many are often realising a career-long dream of performing for their nation at the biggest tournament in football.

It's possible that such a prospect occasionally propels an ordinary player into a loftier reputation based on the performances of just a handful of emotionally-charged fixtures and clubs have paid the price for such lack of due diligence for decades at the top level.

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But while analytical and measured scouting is the order of the day at the AXA Centre in Kirkby, it does not mean that they were not further running the rule over a handful of players at the Qatar tournament.

Jude Bellingham

Let's start with the obvious one, shall we? The name Jude Bellingham has never strayed too far from the Liverpool transfer rumour mill over much of the last two years.

Jurgen Klopp is a known admirer of Bellingham, even if he has been keen to not get overly drawn into further speculation when asked at times during press conferences in recent months.

The Borussia Dortmund man, at 19, has the potential to dominate Premier League midfields for much of the next decade, but the England international will inevitably have interest from elsewhere in the top flight.

Manchester City, United and Chelsea are all likely to be keeping close tabs on Bellingham but it is Liverpool whose name is most frequently named in connection with Bellingham.

He starred for England before their eventual quarter-final exit to France, boosting his reputation in the process. It will take a club-record transfer fee to prise him away from Dortmund but Liverpool, according to recent reports from Germany, very much consider themselves front-runners at present.

Enzo Fernandez

Another young midfielder who excelled in Qatar was Argentina's Enzo Fernandez. The 21-year-old initially wasn't a part of La Albiceleste's starting lineup under Lionel Scaloni before he forced his way into the reckoning with his all-action displays.

The Benfica midfielder has reportedly attracted the attention of several clubs since his displays for the eventual World Cup winners but the Reds have been linked with Fernandez long before the competition got underway in the Middle East.

The Reds have a good relationship with Benfica, with sporting director Julian Ward, in particular, said to be close to his Portuguese counterpart, Rui Costa. That helped smooth the path for Darwin Nunez to arrive on Merseyside last summer and Liverpool have again been reportedly weighing up a move for another key player for the Portuguese in Fernandez.

Fernandez's performances alongside Lionel Messi in Qatar were enough to see him win FIFA's Young Player of the Tournament award and his stock undoubtedly sky-rocketed during the World Cup.

A story in Diario La Capital in Argentina reported last week that an agreement had been reached between Benfica and Liverpool over Fernandez to join next summer. "The English club already has an agreement in principle with the Portuguese club to incorporate the young Argentina midfielder from June 2023," read their story.

Senior sources both in Dubai and on Merseyside were quick to dismiss those reports at the time, however. The ECHO understands there is currently no agreement in place for Fernandez, but the dismissal of that particular claim does not necessarily mean there is no interest in the player.

While there is no agreement in place for the 21-year-old, he is someone who has been scouted in recent times.

Sofyan Amrabat

A player whose reputation was greatly enhanced in Qatar, Amrabat was part of the Morocco side who shocked all by going all the way to the semi-finals before they fell to France.

A breakout star of the World Cup, as a result, Amrabat has been linked to a number of clubs across Europe, with the player's agent indicating that interest is now firm in his client.

"Of course, I get a lot of phone calls for Sofyan," the Fiorentina midfielder's agent, Mohammed Sinouh, said this month. "The whole world has seen he's the best holding midfielder of the World Cup. Sofyan is a top professional, he's focused on the World Cup with Morocco."

Foot Mercato has also claimed that Amrabat's representatives met with Jurgen Klopp recently to talk through the possibility of a transfer. Any potential interest, however, would surely have to predate the World Cup and the 26-year-old was nowhere near the rumour mill prior to the action getting underway in Doha.

Atletico Madrid have most strongly been named with interest in the La Viola midfielder and with a reported price-tag of £40m placed on him, Liverpool might feel their funds can be used elsewhere to bolster their midfield options.

Cody Gakpo

Away from the engine room, Klopp has linked with a deal for PSV's Cody Gakpo. The Netherlands international scored three times in Qatar as Oranje were knocked out of the quarter-finals by eventual winners Argentina.

The PSV forward is a versatile frontman whose nine goals in the Eredivisie this term have made some of Europe's biggest clubs sit up and take further note. At 23, Gakpo's long-term career surely lies away from Eindhoven and with interest intensifying, Liverpool will no doubt have been keeping tabs on it all.

It is Manchester United who are seemingly named most regularly in connection with Gakpo but with the Reds without Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota for the next couple of months, calls for attacking reinforcements have been forthcoming of late. Klopp has always professed that any January transfer should only be completed if it is to bring a summer signing in earlier in the way Diaz arrived nearly 12 months ago.

Could that apply to Gakpo? They have at least been monitoring his developments in his homeland.

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