Liverpool are prepared to splash the cash to bring in Nicolo Barella it seems, with Italian journalist Marco Barzaghi, via Caught Offside, reporting that the Reds could offer up to £77m to bring the player in this summer.
Has Nicolo Barella been good this season?
The midfielder has been with Inter for four seasons now and has been able to help them to a Serie A title and a Champions League final along the way.
This year, they almost conquered Europe but their league campaign led to only a third place finish.
The 26-year-old was once more an important part of the side and featured in 35 Serie A outings for the club over the course of the 2022/23 campaign. Even though he plays in the middle of the field, he was also able to chip in with six goals and six assists – his second-best goal contribution rate over the course of his career with 12.
A look at his FBRef scouting report also proves that the player is one of the best in his position in Europe. When you look at how he compares to others in midfield across the Men’s ‘Top Five’ big leagues, there is a lot to like about Barella. He has a 0.22 non-penalty goal rate per 90, which puts him in the top eight percent in that category, and he also has 3.65 shot-creating actions per 90 too (88th percentile).
It means that not only is he hitting the net a lot more often than other midfielders he is excellent at creating goalscoring opportunities too, both for himself and his teammates.
Are Liverpool signing Barella?
Now, according to a report from Marco Barzaghi, via Caught Offside, the Italian may have earned himself a big money move to England.
That is because Liverpool are could be willing to stump up a lot of cash to bring him to the Premier League. It’s believed that the side are preparing to offer a huge amount of £77m to lure him to Anfield and whilst there is no official bid on the table yet, FSG are finally willing to spend big.
Barella is certainly an exciting asset to have in any team, with football journalist Josh Bunting stating that the midfielder is a “difference maker” and can play “beautiful” football with a “winner’s mentality” to boot.
He has a lot of positive attributes then and could bring that to a Liverpool midfield in desperate need of rejuvenation. Even if the fee is relatively steep, it could be a price worth paying for the Italy star.
Charlie is an experienced freelance football writer, having written for multiple publications and websites over the last few years.
Initially beginning with a stint writing for SillySeason during his time at college, Charlie went on to create content for websites such as Last Word on Football and Football League World before joining up with Football FanCast.
He also regularly contributes with a WSL column for the Wigan Today newspaper and has had work featured in FourFourTwo magazine and several matchday programmes.
On the side, Charlie is an avid Preston North End fan and works as an editor for Vital PNE. Aside from football, he is a huge fan of the film industry and has subsequently branched out to write about it for Comic Book Resources.
