While many Liverpool fans will no doubt be praying that Mo Salah will sign a contract extension in the near future, Anfield chiefs appear to be playing the long game by reportedly looking at prospective successors to the Egyptian.
According to CaughtOffside, Reds scouts are expected to be present at tonight’s Champions League clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Girona to assess Viktor Tsygankov, the first-choice right winger for the LaLiga outfit.
The report claims that Los Blanquivermells would be open to selling the 26-year-old at the right price if an offer were to arrive during the January transfer window, and the Ukrainian is understood to be keen on trying his luck in the Premier League if the opportunity were to arise.
Hailed as a ‘magician‘ by Spanish publication Sport in 2023, Tsygankov played a pivotal role in Girona’s shock qualification for the Champions League with 15 goal contributions in 30 LaLiga games last season as Michel’s side finished third in the table, earning European qualification for the first time in the club’s history.
With 0.41 penalty goals per 90 minutes over the past year, the Ukraine forward ranks among the top 10% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues for that particular metric (FBref), a statistic which is sure to have impressed Liverpool chiefs.
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He turns 27 in November, so the Reds would be getting a player who’s already in the prime of his career rather than one who’s approaching that particular sweet spot, but he’s still five-and-a-half years the junior of Salah.
Even if the Egyptian King pens a new deal, he’ll be 33 next June and the likelihood is that he’d be offered a two-year contract at best, so the uncomfortable thought of life after our number 11 is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
It should be intrigiung to see how Tsygankov performs against seasoned Champions League operators in PSG tonight. He’s experienced this competition before with Dynamo Kyiv, so Michel will be looking to the likes of him to put his best foot forward as Girona enter unchartered territory.
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