Rumour Mongering: Tottenham and Liverpool Eye Stuttgart Star

According to reports out of Germany, Benjamin Pavard is a target for the two English sides.

It’s time to add another name to the endless spreadsheet of players tenuously linked with a move to Liverpool, with reports out of Germany today claiming the Reds are keeping a close eye on Stuttgart’s talented 21-year-old centre half Benjamin Pavard.

Bild claim that Liverpool, along with top four rivals Tottenham, are enamoured with the young French international who has found success since moving to the Bundesliga in 2016 from boyhood club Lille, where he spent 11 years rising through the ranks.

With Stuttgart director Michael Reschke claiming they wouldn’t consider selling him even for €30M, though, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Pavard is clearly talented, and his recent call-up to the deep and talented French national team serves as proof of that.

He’s not the finished product, though, and wouldn’t serve as a clear and immediate upgrade on either Joël Matip or Dejan Lovren, while Liverpool already have their own young, talented, and highly-rated centre half in 20-year-old Joe Gomez.

Pavard would be an exceptionally pricey player for the future at a time when Liverpool have moved towards targeting players who would stand as clear improvements to the starting eleven as Jürgen Klopp looks to put the finishing touches on his project.

It would also be a signing that would risk squeezing out Gomez, who Klopp rates highly. All of which makes Pavard to Liverpool look something of a non-starter—or perhaps even a case of his current club using the Reds to drive up his price.

With Pavard also linked to RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund, that might turn out to be the real reason Liverpool—and likely Tottenham as well—are being attached to the young star in the German press.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com