One of the busiest teams in this transfer window happens to be Liverpool, going after stars and young players alike. The next name on their shortlist is Zakaria Bakkali of PSV, an 18-year old winger who already has an international appearance for Belgium.
De Telegraaf is reporting that there isn’t too much of a difference between the two sides, and a deal might be completed very soon.
If there’s one type of player Brendan Rodgers loves to sign, it’s the teenage winger. Bakkali, who will turn 19 in six months and has done quite well on his first season with the senior team at PSV, fit the bill, although from what we’ve seen so far, it probably means he’s likely to be loaned out somewhere.
PSV would like to sell him now, probably for around £5 million. He has one more year left on his contract and it seems quite impossible to keep him in Eindhoven, with more and more indications that he is going somewhere else next season.
Bakkali, who has played for PSV since 2008, has already appeared once for the Belgian national team (in 2013), although he did have the option to appear for Morocco. He preferred playing for Belgium, which is the country he was born in, playing for Liege youth clubs until the age of 12.
He appeared 16 times for PSV last season, scoring 3 goals. It’s quite crowded at the moment when it comes to the winger and forward positions at Liverpool, so it won’t be a surprise to see Bakkali signed and then loaned out – either to someone in England, or even back to PSV. PSV need the money in order to complete their signing of Steven Defour of Porto.