Liverpool should not be copying Chelsea too often when it comes to transfers, but there is one kind of deal that should be repeated — albeit for a much lesser fee. The Stamford Bridge side made history when it broke the record for the most expensive Ukrainian player ever, bringing in Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Jürgen Klopp will leave behind a strong midfield when he departs Liverpool in the summer. But there is still room for further improvement under the new boss.
Now, it should be Liverpool’s turn to shop in Ukraine in order to sign an exciting young talent ideal for Jürgen Klopp’s midfield. Ukrainian football, despite the difficulties back home with an ongoing conflict against Russia, is still going strong, and more and more young talents are making a name for themselves at top European clubs. Mudryk is just one example among many, and while he has not shown it fully at Chelsea yet, his talent level remains clear.
As the U21 European Championship last November proved, he is not the only one, with Ukraine qualifying for the semi-finals, beating Croatia and Romania en route, before being knocked out by Spain. On the back of this tournament, many more could follow Mudryk’s path into one of the top five European leagues.
One of those is one of Mudryk’s former teammates at club level at Shakhtar Donetsk in Georgiy Sudakov. A bright young midfielder, Sudakov is already a regular at senior level for Ukraine and has just enjoyed an excellent breakthrough campaign at Shakhtar.
In 39 games, Sudakov scored five goals and registered 11 assists for Shakhtar and produced impressive performances not just at domestic level but also in the Champions League, where he registered assists against the likes of RB Leipzig and Celtic. This season, he has kicked on again, making 18 more appearances.
Still only 21, Sudakov is a player who should be on Liverpool’s transfer radar. He is the kind of dynamic creative midfielder that Jürgen Klopp prioritized last summer, and the club may still want to strengthen furter with Thiago likely to be on the move. Unlike Mudryk, who was sold to Chelsea in a deal worth around $113m (£89m/€104m), his valuation would be considerably more reasonable. According to Calciomercato, Liverpool and Manchester City are going to go head-to-head for the player, who could cost around $54m (£43m/€50m).
He is someone who has the work rate to suit a gegenpressing system and likes the ball at his feet. To illustrate this, in his last performance at the U21 Euros against Romania, Sudakov attempted over 100 passes, and in the Ukrainian top flight, he has averaged 59.8 passes per 90 minutes as per Wyscout, which is quite high even for a midfield player.
With 4.29 of those passes per 90 coming into the penalty area, Sudakov’s creative strengths are clear. In the league, this ranks him in the top third for the metric overall and he also ranks in the top 10 for passes into the final third (9.67) which overall makes him a very progressive player, not just through his distribution, but through his ability on the ball as well.
Sudakov likes to make forward runs. He averages 4.93 dribbles per 90 minutes and makes 3.44 progressive runs per 90 too, which ranks him as the second-best in the league. Capable of playing in midfield and on the wing as well, Sudakov is a unique prospect. He’s clearly got the tactical intelligence to make it at a higher level, and at Liverpool, he could prove to be a useful utility player.
Even after last summer’s midfield rebuild, with Thiago moving on and more reinforcements potentially on the table, a move for Sudakov could well be appealing. Liverpool should definitely be taking a look.
