With more and more additions to the Bayern Munich squad, Xherdan Shaqiri feels his future might be elsewhere, and Liverpool is a team that would love to take advantage of that situation.
The 21-year old Swiss international mostly came off the bench last season, his first for the German champions. He knew that with Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben in the squad, the price paid for him (€11.6 million) doesn’t mean a thing, and it’s going to take patience and time before he finds himself playing more minutes and featuring more and more in the lineup.
The arrival of Mario Gotze hit his hope of becoming a more prominent part of the European Champions’ system hard, and rumors in Germany suggest that Shaqiri might be looking for an audience with Pep Guardiola, who is also looking to bring Thiago over in a deal that should be finished within a few hours.
Liverpool have quite a few players in similar positions (Shaqiri can play on both wings and behind the striker) they’re interested in, like Bernanrd from Atletico Mineiro, but with Shaqiri presumably available, it might be an opportunity that’s too good to pass.
Shaqiri has been a first-team player (mostly with FC Basel) since 2009, before his 18th birthday. He has been appearing for the Swiss national side (25 caps, 7 goals) before his 19th birthday. He is regarded as the future of Swiss football, and after an impressive debut season for Bayern in the limited chances he got to show his stuff (8 goals, 13 assists in all competitions), he expects to see more and more of the pitch.
Liverpool are turning out to be quite stocked with wingers and forwards themselves, but obviously the competition isn’t as tough to beat as it is in the Allianz-Arena. It seems Rodgers is looking to bring as much young wing talents as possible, and managing to sign Shaqiri (on loan won’t do much good for both sides) will be a huge boost heading into his second season in charge.