Five Bundesliga players Liverpool should scout this season

Stuart Telford

• 15 Aug 2022 16:01 BST
• 5 min read

Liverpool have done some serious transfer business already this summer, recruiting Darwin Nunez from Benfica for €100 million as well as bolstering their squad with the acquisitions of Fabio Carvalho (from Fulham for £7.7m/€9.1m) and Calvin Ramsay (from Aberdeen for £4.2m/€4.9m).

But Jurgen Klopp has often leant on his native Germany for talent, with first-team regulars Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip, Roberto Firmino, Ibrahima Konata and Naby Keita all calling the Bundesliga home prior to arriving at Anfield.

Who else might be a smart move for the Reds going forward? Football Transfers takes a closer look.

Christopher Nkunku

Christopher Nkunku was the Bundesliga's Player of the Year last season - ahead of Barcelona-bound Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich - after plundering 35 goals and 20 assists in all competitions at a rate of one every 78 minutes he played.

Those are incredible numbers considering he only spent half of the time playing up front, also operating anywhere across the final third as Domenico Tedesco looked to manage form and injuries in his squad.

Nkunku recently signed a contract extension keeping him at RB Leipzig until 2026, so he would cost significant money, but Liverpool can likely afford his €60m + asking price, and there could hardly be a better replacement for Sadio Mane in world football than the Frenchman...

Serge Gnaby

Unless Klopp wants to adjust his focus across Germany to champions Bayern. Mane left for Bavaria in a €41m deal this summer, leaving a gap in the Liverpool squad. Luis Diaz now occupies the left wing but doesn't yet carry the same goal-threat while Darwin - as deadly as he is - is an out-and-out striker not a like-for-like replacement.

But Mane's arrival at Bayern has suddenly made things look very busy in the final third at the Allianz Arena, even without Lewandowski. Gnabry now finds himself competing with Mane, Thomas Müller, Leroy Sane and the nascent Jamal Musiala for space in the final third, and it is a battle he might not win... nor even need to.

Gnabry has scored a barely fathomable 20 goals in 34 senior international outings with Germany, but is fluent in English having spent five years there between 2011 and 2016, initially in the Arsenal academy.

Angelino

Further back, there could be a real opportunity with Angelino. Liverpool have one of the best left-backs in the world in Andy Robertson, but if the Scotsman were to get injured, there is a significant drop-off in quality with his Greek understudy, Kostas Tsimikas.

Former Manchester City man Angelino had a hand in six goals from just seven Champions League games for Leipzig as recently as the 2020/21 season, but now finds himself on loan at Hoffenheim after his parent club signed another Germany international in his position ion David Raum.

There are questions marks around Angelino's attitude, but Klopp is one of the best managers in the world at putting the fire inside his players instead of under them, and the Spaniard should be available at a cut price given the circumstances.

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Jude Bellingham

The player Liverpool have been most closely linked to this summer, Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham already looks like one of the best central midfielders in the game, despite his tender years.

"I can't believe it, maybe he's a liar!" Klopp's Man City colleague Pep Guardiola said when asked about the then-17-year-old Bellingham's performance against his side in the Champions League. "He's so good for 17 years old, he's a fantastic player. There was one moment when he didn't get the ball from central defenders, how he shouts and demands that ball to him at 17 means a lot."

Now 19, the young Englishman still has the best of his career ahead of him, unlike Jordan Henderson, Thiago and James Milner, who are all now the wrong side of 30, and he'll likely want to spend it in the Premier League.

Joe Scally

Last but by no means least is Joe Scally, the young American at Borussia Monchengladbach. The 19-year-old joined from New York City in 2021 and was intended for the reserves, but he is already their first-choice right-back ahead of Austria international Stefan Lainer.

Scally is just as adept at attacking as he is defending - something that suits Klopp's attacking 4-3-3 - and he is just as happy playing on the left as the right. He also averaged 17 pressures per 90 minutes last season, something that will suit Klopp's high-energy style.

Scally could cover for either Trent-Alexander Arnold or Robertson, should cost much more than €10m, and also handily has a US passport, something the Fenway Sports Group might appreciate as they look to make further inroads into the American market.