Liverpool have been offered a bargain opportunity to sign a Serie A star

As the transfer window draws to a close, Liverpool are one of the few Premier League sides yet to make any concrete moves in the transfer market. There have been plenty of names linked with a move to Anfield in the newspapers and on social media, with the likes of Ederson, Joao Neves, Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori, Willian Pacho and Levi Colwill being some of the most prominent figures in that department.

However, in recent days, a new name has been linked with a move to Merseyside, with former Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot now reportedly being offered to the Reds. HITC’s Graeme Bailey has claimed that Liverpool are one of the clubs who have been approached by Rabiot’s agents.

The 29-year-old is currently a free agent after his contract with Juventus expired at the end of June. That said, would it actually be a smart move for Liverpool?

Rabiot – Right or wrong?

There’s no doubt that Rabiot is a talented footballer – you don’t rack up 48 senior appearances for France if you’re not. You also don’t get linked with the likes of Liverpool, Bayern Munich, PSG and AC Milan unless you’re a talented footballer. However, it’s not quite that simple.

The key behind all these questions raised about a potential move for Rabiot is the tactical fit in Arne Slot’s system. As much as this is an opportunistic and cheap deal for Liverpool to complete, the 29-year-old is far from what the Reds need in this transfer window and is certainly not a priority.

A genuine ball-winning midfielder to partner Alexis Mac Allister should be the priority in that midfield department, rather than Rabiot’s box-to-box style. Looking at Liverpool’s current squad, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch are probably the two most similar options to Rabiot – and I definitely know which players I’d like to invest my time in.

There is, of course, the idea that this is a smart financial deal for the club, as it’s not often you get the chance to sign a player valued at around £30m, according to Transfermarkt, on a free transfer – but that’s a very lazy way of thinking.

Liverpool’s other options

As briefly mentioned earlier, players like Atalanta’s Ederson and PSG’s Manuel Ugarte would make a lot more sense for Liverpool’s current plans. Both players are brilliant ball-winners and possess a level of physicality that has been missing at Anfield since Fabinho’s departure at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Even Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners fixes more potential problems for Liverpool than Rabiot, despite the hefty £51m price tag placed on the Dutchman. Either way, I’d rather we didn’t sign any midfielders than sign Rabiot on crazy wages and potentially hamper the process of our younger talents.