The pursuit of Adama Traore, the Wolverhampton Wanderers winger, by Liverpool will “intensify” next summer as Jurgen Klopp prepares for the eventuality that Mohamed Salah will move on.
Jurgen Klopp said: “He is unplayable in moments, it’s unbelievable. What a player – it’s not only him but he’s so good.”
Liverpool, of course, secured the £40million signing of Diogo Jota from Wolves in the summer of 2020. Traore, 25, has begun season under Bruno Lage in the starting line-up, but in the last couple of weeks he has found himself on the bench and has been used as an impact substitute. Quizzed on the omission of Traore, and teammate Ruben Neves, recently,Bruno Lage said: “They need to understand, I’m the boss! I’m straight with them. They need to understand this. The worst thing they can do is not work for the team. We need to tell them and they need to understand this. Sometimes you can jump from the bench and help the team. Sometimes the game – especially here in the Premier League – the games are more compact and in the final 30 minutes you have more space to play between the lines and behind the defenders. We need to find the right solutions. Our strategy is not just for the beginning, but what will happen in the whole game.”
Traore, like Salah, is entering a key point in his career; he signed a five-year deal when he signed from Middlesbrough, following Wolves’ promotion to the Premier League in 2018 and he became a club record signing at that time.
Reports in Spain suggest that Klopp will seek to freshen up his forward line further in the coming months and, with Salah’s contract status entering a critical period, Spain international Traore is high on the German’s wish list. He’s a player who Klopp has already been taken by. Back in the winter of 2020, as Wolves were defeated by the rampant Reds despite an excellent and competitive showing at Molineux, Klopp made a point of publicly praising Traore.
