Doesn't This Sound Like the Ideal Potential Liverpool Striker?
Scouting Karim Adeyemi
Liverpool have three strikers all at their absolute peak, defying the years a little, looking super-sharp aged 29-30; plus a mid-20s emerging superstar, in Diogo Jota.
Behind them are several young attacking talents, including future right-winger Kaide Gordon, who just turned 17. (And Harvey Elliott, 18, whose leg is healing after a shocking injury, and who may remain a midfielder or move back to the front three in time; ditto Curtis Jones, 20.)
The gap is in between. (Given that Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino, also mid-20s, are handy squad players who may excel if given a run of games, but players who you'd ideally not want to see given a run of games, bar out of necessity. Origi, in particular, can come good when he starts every week, but like a lot of players, struggles to make an impact in one start a month.)
TTT's current tactical expert Mizgan Masani has today run the rule over Karim Adeyemi in an excellent in-depth scouting article.
https://tomkinstimes.com/2021/11/scouting-karim-adeyemi-do-liverpool-need-a-new-jota/
Adeyemi seems to tick all the boxes. Mizgan notes similarities to Jota, but Jota was one of the players Liverpool had on their data radar as being similar to Mo Salah and Sadio Mané.
There are a lot of outstanding prospects out there, but in contrast to Donyell Malen at Dortmund, whom I discussed recently, Adeyemi seems to appreciate work off the ball, as Mizgan shows. Working hard is the absolute minimum for a Jürgen Klopp striker.
At 19 – and about to turn 20 – he's already a full international with a goal to his name, for the mighty Germany. As such, he presumably has huge respect for Klopp, as his country's most famous manager.
Next, Adeyemi is at Salzburg. They are an elite feeder club, in a mediocre league. A lot was made of Liverpool not having enough data on Mané at Salzburg back in 2014, and the Reds have rectified that.
Indeed, speaking to someone at the very top of the Reds' transfer process, I learnt that a lot of work goes into weighting weaker leagues, when it comes to data. (Not that I have any inside knowledge on individual targets, including this transfer link.)
No player will transfer their exact numbers from one club to another, due to all the variables and vagaries, but the potential is clear. Liverpool know they should have been in a position to better judge Mané years before he eventually signed, albeit his time at Southampton will surely have helped him develop into the player who was fully ready by 2016.
Liverpool have a very good relationship with Salzburg, albeit not as concrete as the one Leipzig have had with them over the years. But still, it's another potential advantage for Liverpool over many other clubs.
Even in a weaker league, to do what Adeyemi is doing aged 19 is incredible. His exploits for Germany would mark him out as a sufficiently elite player in the age of reduced European privilege now that the UK is no longer in the EU.
Salzburg find and develop elite players, but do no sell for superstar fees; £30m to them is a fortune. Liverpool can't really be getting into £100m+ auctions, especially when there will be a few positions in need of addressing in the next 24 months. (And £100m or £200m players also screw up the wage structure as they demand massive salaries.)
Maybe the club could go to £100m on a one-off, but the money needs to be spread around on a few signings, and the wage bill has been where the recent bigger spending has been aimed.
How much Liverpool have to spend depends on what happens with the contracts and the "melting" (or not) of Mané, Salah and Roberto Firmino (and the several others in their age-bracket); but lately it seems that the supreme athletes are going on longer, especially the goalscorers.
Yet explosiveness will wane, and all three slowing down together would be a problem in the same XI. Jota could fully usurp one in 1-2 years, but the others? Kaide Gordon remains the best 16-year-old I'd seen in years, but it's still hard to know for sure how players will develop, especially if injuries strike (as they have as soon as he turned 17, albeit only a relatively minor one so far).
I see that Barca are linked with Adeyemi today for £31m. They don't have 31 pence to spend, as I noted yesterday.
As ever, there will always be other young players who emerge, in a constant wave of talent development across the world. There's rarely just one ideal player – maybe Virgil van Dijk is a rare example. But reading Mizgan's piece, it seems that Adeyemi is ideal.
The only other key test is the "no dickheads" rule, which means players with non-elite attitudes are not signed by the Reds, no matter how talented. Liverpool will certainly do their due diligence on that.
To read about Adeyemi's versatility and general impressive qualities, see Mizgan's article, for TTT subscribers only.