€52m winger CONFIDENT Liverpool transfer could happen

One of Liverpool's reported transfer targets admits his belief that he could play for the Reds. Will they bid for him, though?

Liverpool lost 3-2 in Eindhoven to PSV on Wednesday evening. Not that it mattered all that much.

READ MORE: Liverpool star confirms he is STAYING at Anfield

The Reds were already through to the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League and knew that they could actually finish top of the league phase even with a defeat. That's exactly how things played out, too.

Barcelona drew 2-2 with Atalanta and that was enough for Liverpool to secure top spot. Arne Slot was willing to take a chance on that, too, as he played a heavily rotated team in the Netherlands.

PSV took advantage of that. Johan Bakayoko, Ismael Saibari and Ricardo Pepi all scored before half-time to get the better of Cody Gakpo's penalty and Harvey Elliott's finish. Liverpool suffered their first defeat (in fact, their first dropped points) in the Champions League under Arne Slot.

So positivity on the night for both teams. One player, though, took advantage of the moment to make some very interesting quotes about Liverpool.

Johan Bakayoko on Liverpool

Bakayoko has been linked with Liverpool in the past. The winger has made it clear that he'd only leave PSV for a 'top' club - and the Reds would be exactly that.

Even this month, Liverpool have apparently been looking at Bakayoko. It makes sense, too.

He's still only 21 but bagged 12 goals and 9 assists in the Eredivisie last season. This campaign has seen him grab eight goals already in the league - and another two in the Champions League.

And here's what he said after the match on Wednesday:

“I definitely think that I can join Liverpool,” said Bakayoko, per DaveOCKop.

“We can be happy that we won against big names, but they didn’t come with the strongest team either. It’s a shame that they didn’t come with the strongest team.”

Now, Football Transfers has Bakayoko down as costing around €52m, or £44m. We think that's probably a little pricey at this point, though teams do pay a premium for youth these days.

But that would be more than the Reds paid for Cody Gakpo two years ago. Even if Bakayoko is younger than Gakpo was, his overall numbers aren't anywhere close to the now-Liverpool star.

So this one might take a bit of negotiation to get done. Certainly, though, it's one to watch.

READ MORE: Arne Slot confirms ANOTHER Ryan Gravenberch is joining the first team