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Liverpool transfer ‘interest’ is clever as Cheick Doucouré alternative has Xabi Alonso approval
Bayer Leverkusen’s Exequiel Palacios is a possible contender. Although Simon Rolfes, the club’s managing director for sport, has publicly ruled out a transfer this summer, Liverpool still has time to make an offer for the 24-year-old, according to The Athletic.
In 2018, Palacios and River Plate won the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League. In January 2020, Palacios signed with Bayer Leverkusen.
Although he has only averaged 12.6 league starts in his three full seasons with the Werkself, he broke his previous record and surpassed the 50% threshold for the first time last year by making the XI for 19 games. The 53 absences he had between the summer of 2020 and the end of May reflect more his ιnjury history than his standing in the team.
For the first few games of the season, manager Xabi Alonso has started him in a midfield two alongside former Arsenal star Granit Xhaka.
Palacios has represented his country three times off the bench in the World Cup winning team and four times in the Copa América winning squad over the past 18 months. Alexis Mac Allister, a teammate of Alexis’s, would likely play a key role in any transfer to Anfield.”The World Cup helped with his confidence,” former Liverpool icon Xabi Alonso stated in March through the official Leverkusen website. When you have the trophy in your hands after a victory like that, you want more.
“Pala has maintained a high level of play over the past two months. He’s аggressive when he has to win the ball back and dynamic when he’s on the аttаck.
We’ll improve as a team if he can help usher in our ethos and the tempo of our game. With him and the other midfielders, the squad has made great strides forward. I have no doubt that Pala will advance as well.
Palacios is ‘comfortable weaving together possession’ and ‘isn’t afraid to get down and rough,’ as journalist Zach Lowy puts it, and the numbers back up the comparison to PSG and Italy sensation Marco Verratti.
His greatest score (88) from Smarterscout (via The Athletic), which was adjusted for Premier League play, was for defensive intensity, suggesting a high-energy style that might appeal to Jürgen Klopp. His defensive impact rating is 75, and his ability to recover the ball and make interceptions puts him in the top tier of off-ball players.
To prove he’s more than just a disruptor, he has high marks in both ball retention (68) and link-up play (74).
At this point, Palacios’s ιnjury history is the main worry, thus making a trade involving him is risky. On the pitch, though, he undoubtedly meets Liverpool’s most pressing needs, making him a plausible replacement for Doucouré.