Liverpool icon Michael Owen has urged the Reds to make a summer move for West Ham United superstar and Manchester United target Declan Rice.
As quoted by Daily Mirror, Michael Owen has urged Liverpool to make a summer move for West Ham United star Declan Rice as Jurgen Klopp’s side looks to rebuild what is an ageing squad.
The 42-year-old is a familiar name to Liverpool fans, having spent eight seasons at Anfield. And he was one of the finest players in the world at that time. Owen won several individual and team honours before moving on to Real Madrid. While he would go on to win a few more trophies in his career, Owen would never quite top his achievements for Liverpool on a personal level.
Now a pundit, Owen often makes comments about former club Liverpool , one of which is likely to cause much debate. The Reds go into the summer having missed out on immortality inducing quadruple, falling short on two fronts at the final stage.
With players such as Divock Origi gone and Sadio Mane likely to follow suit, a summer rebuild is essential. Liverpool also need to add more youth to their midfield given that several top players are over 30.
Two players linked with a move to Anfield are Leeds United ace, Kalvin Phillips and AS Monaco star Aurelien Tchouameni. Owen believes Liverpool are looking at the wrong midfielders and has put forward the agenda that Manchester United target Rice would be a better fit. Having played with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Owen is aware of what a top-level midfielder looks like and has curiously compared Rice to the current Aston Villa boss.
“[Rice] does show signs of a Steven Gerrard, big, powerful, long action, a brilliant passer of the ball. He’s not just a central midfielder anymore. He breaks the game up so well, and now he’s opening up and adding those long runs to his game, becoming an all-round player.”
The 23-year-old is a top young player and is likely to go on to have a celebrated career. An all-action player, Rice can take his game to the next level under the right manager, and Klopp could be just that man. Adding the energy of the Englishman, a target for rivals Manchester United, to the middle of the park will supplement Fabinho’s defensive nous and Thiago Alcantara’s silkiness.
While signing Rice does make sense, Liverpool will need more than one player to supplement their midfield. James Milner could leave, while Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara are not getting any younger. Naby Keita also has largely failed to impress and has been touted to potentially be shown the exit door, with Paris Saint-Germain interested.
Add to it Rice’s ability to also play in defence and leadership qualities, and Liverpool could potentially be eyeing a future skipper. The West Ham ace will not come cheap and could set the Merseysiders back quite a bit this summer. With Jude Bellingham also in the fray, the Reds would be better advised to land the Borussia Dortmund man. Rice might be excellent, but Bellingham could be a world-beater.
The Liverpool recruitment team has been top-notch in recent seasons and have unearthed several gems. Julian Ward has a huge job on his hands in replacing Michael Edwards. Just which way his strategy will tilt will be interesting to analyse.
