Why Liverpool should break their bank to sign Lorenzo Insigne
According to Italian outlet La Repubblica, Napoli have rejected Liverpool’s €70million bid for forward Lorenzo Insigne. Their president Aurelio de Laurentiis is holding out for €150million for the player, more than double of what Liverpool have tabled.
Had the Reds’ bid been accepted, it would’ve made Insigne the most expensive Italian in the world overtaking, Jorginho’s transfer to Chelsea for £50million before the start of this season.
Insigne joined Napoli at the age of 15 and came through the ranks before making his senior debut in January 2010 under Walter Mazzarri. He then spent consecutive seasons on loan at Foggia and Pescara. The Italian came back to his parent club in 2012 and has since made over 260 appearances for the club. He also has 30 senior caps for the national team.
Insigne is a fast and skilled dribbler capable of playing in any offensive position. His brilliant vision and the ability to link-up with players allows him to play a much deeper role when required, and his versatility is a massive bonus.
Standing at 5 feet 4 inches tall, his low centre-of-gravity makes him incredibly agile on the ball and the brilliant footballing brain allows him to utilize the space created for himself to devastating effect.
The 27-year-old has scored 11 goals this season for the Gli Azzurri in 23 starts and has played a huge part in their campaign so far, including a goal against Liverpool in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti’s side currently sit in second place in the Serie A, nine points behind league leaders Juventus.
On the other hand, Liverpool have switched between playing 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 this season. Salah’s competence to play as a number nine has brought about the emergence of the latter. The addition of Insigne will open up a wide range of options for Jurgen Klopp, with the Italian capable of playing either on the left or centrally as an attacking midfielder or as a centre forward.
The 27-year-old has five assists to his name in the league this season, just two behind Salah. Insigne also averages 4.5 shots per game, 2.4 key passes per game and just 1.7 bad touches every game.
The Italian also has a pass completion rate of over 85%. All of the above stats are better than Liverpool’s fearsome front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino. (Whoscored.com)
Lorenzo Insigne is under contract at Naples until the summer of 2022 and Liverpool will have to break their transfer record of £75 million they paid for Virgil Van Dijk in January 2018 to get him in the summer window.
