Liverpool can sign their next Luis Suarez with stunning £87m summer transfer swoop

For Liverpool, the priority is clear: replacing Jürgen Klopp in the Anfield dugout comes before anything else this summer.

Klopp shocked the footballing world with his announcement in January that he will leave Liverpool come summer. The German has been in charge for nine incredible years, glory in the Champions League and Premier League obvious highlights. His final months look to have fizzled out with another major trophy unlikely to follow February’s Carabao Cup, but in no way will it taint his tenure.

The mid-season announcement has allowed Liverpool to take their time in sourcing a replacement and after reported first-choice Xabi Alonso confirmed his desire to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, those in charge on Merseyside quickly moved on. And they look to have finally found their man with talks progressing well to get Arne Slot on board.

Slot has consistently impressed in three years at Feyenoord, winning the league title and Dutch KNVB Cup as well as bringing an exciting brand of football to the Rotterdam side. They sit second this year thanks only to being up against an outstanding PSV Eindhoven side, but have lost just two games all season and have 80 goals in 31 games - an average of just under 2.6 per game.

They are the kind of numbers Liverpool fans will demand in the Premier League and should Slot take over as is expected, the Dutchman might be minded to bring one of his most trusted players along for the ride. 21 of those 80 league goals have come from Santiago Gimenez, who is on 24 for the season across all competitions.

A 23-year-old Mexican international, Gimenez caught the eye of top sides across Europe with his goal-scoring exploits during the first-half of the campaign. 2024 has been a little tougher for the forward - four goals in 15 games - but the raw talent is there for all to see and strong performances in European football suggest as much.

2023 was the year of Gimenez, with the Mexican eclipsing a 14-year record to become the highest-scoring Eredivisie player in a calendar year. The previous holder will be well-known to Liverpool supporters, with Luis Suarez bagging 30 for Ajax in 2009 - a run that caught the eye of those in charge at Anfield before his eventual arrival in January 2011.

Suarez emerged as one of the world’s most promising young forwards while at Ajax, bagging an impressive 111 goals in 159 appearances for the Dutch outfit. The Uruguayan was not the fastest, tallest nor strongest of strikers but had incredible guile and elite finishing.

Fast forward to the present and Gimenez follows a similar mould. A forward whose goals are the result of smart movement in the box and an ability to find the target from improbable situations, the Feyenoord man has enjoyed an excellent rise and is on the radar of the continent’s top clubs.

The chances of landing a bargain at the same level of Suarez - who cost just £22.7m - is highly unlikely as Feyenoord will be reluctant to sell. Prospective suitors will not have been helped by Manchester United, with reports suggesting Feyenoord want a Dutch record fee which would mean eclipsing the £86m Erik ten Hag’s side spent on Antony.

Real Madrid and Tottenham have both been linked with a move for the Feyenoord man this year, although the former’s priorities lie elsewhere with Kylian Mbappe available on a free transfer. Arsenal and Chelsea are also admirers, with the latter still on the hunt for a No.9 despite spending more than £1billion since Todd Boehly’s arrival.

Links to Liverpool have been less frequent but the potential arrival of Slot would intensify speculation. Darwin Nunez continues to frustrate as much as he excites and missed chances have cost the Reds dearly in recent weeks. Slot may not have the same patience, with pressure on to hit the ground running.

It might be that a new striker gets pushed back, given there are other areas to prioritise this summer and funds are not infinite at Anfield. Liverpool will likely receive big-money bids for Mohamed Salah again and might be minded to accept, which would require a replacement, while ageing options in central defence will soon need to be succeeded.

But should Slot take charge on Merseyside, he will demand to be backed across the board and a more clinical option upfront could well become an option. Gimenez has been his man at Feyenoord and Liverpool know that such a forward can make the move from the Eredivisie to the Premier League. One of their best ever strikers did exactly that.