Would likely cost around £85m; respected pundit identifies the perfect Coutinho replacement

Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports that James Maddison would be a good replacement for Philippe Coutinho.

“He’s the one player outside of the top-six that, with my Liverpool head on, I’d be thinking he’s one we should be looking at,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football [10:49 pm].

“People talk about [Philippe] Coutinho coming back – he’s going to Bayern Munich – but if you think of someone in the Premier League who you might be able to get, I think it’ll cost a lot of money but he’s certainly one I’d be looking at thinking ‘go and take that next step up’.”

Liverpool would benefit hugely from having a creative midfielder playing behind Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane and Maddison certainly fits the bill.

Obviously, there are concerns over the amount of money that it would cost to sign him after Leicester City charged Manchester United £85million to release Harry Maguire from his contract at King Power Stadium.

Maddison is younger and arguably has a much higher ceiling on his potential which means it stands to reason that the Foxes would demand as close to what they did for Maguire.

The jury is still out on Naby Keita given the talented Guinean’s poor injury record but if he can somehow rid himself of the niggling muscle injuries that have halted his progress, the Reds don’t need Coutinho or Maddison.

The former RB Leipzig midfielder’s style of play is exactly what Liverpool need in the middle of the park but concerns continue to grow over his fitness.

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Source: anfieldhq.com