Liverpool transfers: £17m Brajan Gruda is on Reds radar

Liverpool have their eyes on a £17m wonderkid currently thriving in Germany. They could snap him up this summer.

Sport Bild claims Liverpool are one of several clubs currently looking at Mainz talent Brajan Gruda. The 19-year-old has just enjoyed his first proper senior season.

It's been an impressive one, too. Gruda started 19 Bundesliga games, with 28 total appearances. Those minutes bought about four goals and three assists from an attacking midfield/right-wing position (Mainz essentially play 3-4-3, so Gruda features in a role Liverpool don't really have).

They're good numbers from Gruda, who also has Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa and Newcastle United interested. The report claims he could be snapped up for around £17m from Mainz.

It's an amount that could truly prove to be a bargain, given prices for young players these days.

Liverpool like Brajan Gruda

Gruda is an exceptional talent when running with the ball, and that could well be what attracts Liverpool the most here. FBref compares him to other wingers/attacking midfielders across Europe's top five leagues, and the teenager is in the 97th percentile for take-ons per 90 minutes.

Mohamed Salah, for comparison is in the 22nd percentile and Luis Diaz - who typically excels at dribbling - is only in the 79th. In other words, Gruda is truly brilliant at take-ons.

Liverpool will then want to see whether he can take that talent and develop the correct end product to go with it. If he can, Gruda could become an incredibly dangerous player.

So with that in mind, £17m does feel like a potential steal - but it's also a risk. After all, Gruda hasn't got that much data to go on as he's only played one season of senior football, starting in just over half of the league fixtures.

Liverpool also have quite a few players in his mould. Harvey Elliott, for instance, plays a very similar position and isn't much older at all.

So there's certainly some thinking that needs to go into this one. But Garda is an eye-catching talent and one that is perhaps worth a bit of risk.