Liverpool are tracking Real Sociedad forward Kubo Takefusa after he turned down the chance to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nasr. Spanish outlet Relevo report that Jurgen Klopp’s Manchester United are “particularly interested” in Kubo, who wowed fans at the Real Arena.
The Japanese midfielder has scored six goals and provided four assists in 25 league games this season. Kubo, 22, believes his La Liga career is far from over, but Liverpool are eyeing him as an option for the future. His contract with Sociedad is valid for the next three years.
The former Real Madrid youth player is also on the radar of Saudi Arabian professional league giants Al Nasr. The Japanese footballer would have rejected Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract offer of 40 million euros from Al Alami. Riyadh, led by Luis Castro, were prepared to trigger the €60m buyout clause in Kubo’s contract. That’s a fee Liverpool could split if they want to bring the striker to Anfield. The Merseysiders are not currently struggling for attacking options. Klopp can call on Mohamed Salah, Diogo Lotta, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunes and Luis Diaz. However, Salah’s future with the Premier League powerhouse remains uncertain due to interest from the Saudi Arabian Professional League. Saudi giants Al Hilal and Al Ittihad are interested in the Egyptian superstar, who has one year left on his contract. In Salah’s absence, Jota has become Liverpool’s best player. The protagonist of the “Reds” was at the Africa Cup of Nations and his place was taken by his Portuguese counterpart. The 27-year-old footballer scored 11 goals and 4 assists in 23 matches. He scored a brace and provided an assist during the 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday (January 21st). Jota highlighted his potential in front of goal at the age of 30, citing the goalscoring form of Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo. He said this (via De Spiegel):When you’re young, you have a lot of energy, but you still make a lot of mistakes and always learn from your experiences. “For example, I always look at Ronaldo and I think he’s scored more goals since he turned 30 than before, which shows he can achieve that.”
