I tore Liverpool to pieces in Europe – but now they could sign me for £34m

The biggest Premier League teams have a whole host of scouts on their books these days, all digesting endless videos of players from around the world. Real talent seldom slips past their gaze. Still, perhaps the best way to get a team to sign you is simply to take them apart when you play against them – as Mohamed Amoura may soon demonstrate.

It's been a while since Belgian side Union Saint Gilloise beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Europa League, but while the result may not live long in the memory of Arne Slot’s squad, there are probably a few defenders who wake up in a cold sweat occasionally as they recall Amoura charging through them, scoring one and setting up the second of the shock defeat. Now, if transfer reports prove true, he could be among their team-mates…

How Mohamed Amoura wound up on Liverpool’s radar

Liverpool aren’t the only team credited with an interest in the 24-year-old Amoura, who is now on loan at VfL Wolfsburg from his Belgian parent club – but his performances in the Bundesliga have been sufficiently impressive that his future may well be in the Premier League.

Amoura has racked up 10 goals in 24 German top flight appearances, mostly out wide, and his capacity to burst past defenders and his knack for timing a run to perfection has made him a serious headache for quite a few back lines.

It’s that skillset that has made him an attractive proposition this summer, and Liverpool have already had a taste of it. In December 2023, Amoura was the star as Union Saint Gilloise picked a much-changed Liverpool side apart – seizing on a loose backpass at speed to bundle past Caoimhín Kelleher for the opener, then teeing up team-mate Cameron Puertas for the winner.

Quite the first impression, and Amoura doesn’t seem to have fallen off Liverpool’s radar since. Now, with the club facing a rebuild up front with Mohamed Salah and Luis Díaz both liable to leave along, perhaps, with part-time winger Harvey Elliott, the time may be right for them to make a move.

Amoura’s knack for stretching play and torching defenders when they least expect it is a substantial part of his appeal, but the quality of his first touch, his ball-carrying and his finishing are all enough to ensure that he uses the ball well once he’s worked his way into another acre or two of space.

As well as his 10 goals from seven expected goals’ worth of chances this season, Amoura notched up 17 strikes in the Belgian Pro League for Union Saint Gilloise, despite only starting 16 games.

That means that he could be both the dynamic open-field forward that Liverpool need and the high-end finisher they crave to replace the persistently misfiring Darwin Núñez and, perhaps, Salah, whose goals have been absolutely essential to their expected title win.

If Salah leaves, and they don’t find goalscorers to replace him, then the odds of a repeat will look rather thin. Amoura doesn’t score quite enough to be the answer all by himself, but his record suggests that he could go a long way to plastering over the gigantic crack that Salah’s exit would create.

Will Liverpool sign Amoura this summer?

Arsenal are also alleged to be monitoring the Algerian international, who can operate either as a centre-forward or on the left wing, but it looks as though they would prefer to sign Nico Williams, a slightly more expensive but also starry option.

That could leave the field clear for Liverpool, although no doubt other teams are doing their due diligence in the background and the German media has mentioned Bayer Leverkusen as an interested party as well.

Complicating matters is the fact that Wolfsburg reportedly have a bargain €14.5m (£12.3m) purchase option in the loan contract that took Amoura to Germany in the first place – but there are indications that they could be prepared to trigger it and sell him right away, just as their compatriots FC Nürnberg did in selling Stefanos Tzimas to Brighton over the winter.

There is precedent for negotiating through the red tape, in other words, and Wolfsburg are ultimately a selling side who need to take a healthy profit when the option presents itself – and strong interest from sides like Liverpool or Leverkusen could easily force their hand.

As yet, it isn’t reported that Liverpool have engaged in any conversations with Amoura’s representatives or with his club. This may be smoke without fire. But given how impressive he was against them towards the end of the Klopp era, it’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t at least have a passing interest in a player who could solve several of their problems at once.