Liverpool is being tipped to move for a number nine in the summer, with RB Leipzig's $75 million (£58m/€70m)-rated Benjamin Sesko the latest name to be linked with a transfer to Arne Slot's side.
With question marks hanging over Darwin Nunez's suitability and Diogo Jota's injury record, Liverpool could dip into the market to add another striker to its roster when the season ends. It also needs to tie Mohamed Salah down to a new contract.
But with several players having been linked with a move — including Newcastle United's Alexander Isak — Sesko would be a cheaper alternative. He is less proven but the Reds have had success with signing Red Bull players before, including both Dominik Szoboszlai and Ibrahima Konate.
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According to TBR Football, Sesko could be the latest to make that switch. The 21-year-old Slovenian has scored 17 times so far this season as well as providing another five assists.
"I was pretty impressed, he played a good game," Jurgen Klopp, now Red Bull's head of global soccer, said after watching him in January. "He’s a good player anyway. I’ve actually known him for a while.
"I knew him already when he was at Salzburg. I think we played a friendly game here when he was very, very young. I was really impressed. I thought, 'Where do they get all these players?'. Ridiculous."
Sesko scored in a 1-0 friendly win for Salzburg against Liverpool when he was just 19 years old. "I totally remember this one," he recalled. "The skill against Liverpool. There, people see that I'm also capable of doing magic with the ball in situations like this. This moment, I will just... I scored against Liverpool. Wow! I was really proud of myself that I could score against teams like that."
Since moving to Germany, Sesko has been compared with Erling Haaland. "The comparisons with the former Borussia Dortmund man are hard to avoid," the official Bundesliga website says about him.
"Both players are big lads, with Sesko actually an inch taller than his Salzburg predecessor and both defy their imposing stature with electrifying pace. Sesko is a major threat in the air, two-footed, has great technique and an eye for the spectacular. Little wonder then that his teammates in Austria told him he could go on to reach similar, or even greater, heights than Haaland."
"Such comparisons motivate me and give me energy," Sesko said previously of being likened to the Norwegian. "They do not represent pressure. I will listen and learn so I can be even better than he is. My teammates at the club tell me that Haaland and I are very similar, especially in terms of speed. Most of them even tell me that I’m better than him!"
Liverpool.com says: Sesko is a very good player and his price tag would not be prohibitive for Liverpool. His goals record is good and he is at an age where he has another level or two to hit.
Who the Reds target, though, will depend on exactly what kind of number nine Slot wants in his team. Right now, we are not exactly sure because he has just been using what he inherited.
