While most of the focus amongst fans and pundits has been on Liverpool’s squad deficiencies in the present, while new head coach Andoni Iraola recently said that he would like to see multiple first team signings before the summer transfer window slams shut, much of the breaking news today has focused on the future.
Following earlier news the Reds had agreed a £30M deal to sign Genk goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans on a delayed transfer that will see the 18-year-old arrive in 2027, there’s news of a second
18-year-old signed with an eye to the future. Liverpool’s second teenage signing of the day is Djylian N’Guessan of Saint-Étienne in France’s second division, who is set to be signed in a €5M (£4.3M) deal.
The forward only turned 18 yesterday, and has experience across the attacking band at all three positions. He made 11 first team appearances and scored three goals for Saint-Étienne last season, when the club finished third in Ligue 2 and came up just short of earning promotion.
The buzz around N’Guessan has him as one of France’s top young talents, with clubs like Paris Saint-Germain said to be keeping close tabs on him.
While a €5M fee for a teenager with a handful of appearances in the French second tier certainly isn’t nothing, given the current state of the market it’s also clearly a gamble on potential—the sort fans see clubs further down the pecking order often make before flipping the player to the likes of Liverpool for massive fees a year or two down the road.
Everyone will be hoping, then, that N’Guessan hits. Even if he does, though, he won’t be a part of Liverpool’s squad until next season at the earliest and it’s likely to be a year or two beyond that before he might reasonably be expected to have a significant role to play with the Reds.
