Liverpool register their interest in Chelsea target, does it make sense?

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Bengaluru, April 29: If reports in England are to be believed, Liverpool have taken the driver's seat in the chase of LOSC Lille star forward Victor Osimhen. The 21-year-old Nigerian international has been strongly linked with Chelsea, Leicester City and Everton in recent months but it now seems that the Reds have emerged as the front-runners for the young forward.

Here we will take a deeper look at the player and try to analyse where he will fit in at Anfield:

A typical number nine

Unlike Roberto Firmino of Liverpool, Victor Osimhen is more of a natural number nine who is much less of a creator and more of a finisher spending most of the time in advanced areas of the pitch.

In many ways, the Nigerian international resembles Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero. He hardly drops deeper to initiate attacks or win the ball back like Firmino does and would provide Jurgen Klopp with a completely different option in opening up opponent defences.

Despite the vast amount of time Osimhen spends in advanced positions, his average shots taken per game does not justify that. He has taken only 3.2 shots per game this season which is comparable to Aguero's. It shows that he does not take shots on every opportunity unlike most other strikers and rather chooses to take his chances only when he sees clear-cut chances. His tendency to hit hard and low shots are also comparable to Aguero.

He knows to take up the right position

When Lille lose the ball, they usually press hard to block passing options for the opponents. And, Osimhen does not take much part in the pressing and instead takes up dangerous positions making himself available for teammates to pick him out if they win the ball. His style of play is much different from the way Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp deploys Roberto Firmino but is a lot similar to how Mohamed Salah operates when he is deployed at number nine.

Firmino has so far endured a difficult campaign by his standards and has looked off-colour more often than not. Therefore, it is hardly a surprise to see Jurgen Klopp looking for an alternative option upfront other than Firmino. A natural striker like Osimhen who knows to find pockets of space behind the opposition's defence can prove to be a very solid plan B.

Is Osimhen a backup target in case Liverpool fail to land Werner?

It is pretty much a general consensus that Liverpool are looking to sign RB Leipzig's German forward Timo Werner in the summer and even the player has made it clear that his preferred destination is Liverpool despite interest from elsewhere. It is also claimed that Lille will demand close to £60 million for the services of the Nigerian which is significantly more than the release clause of Werner that is believed to be £50m.

Taking nothing away from Osimhen but Werner is levels ahead of the Nigerian international as a player. He is much more experienced, proven and already world-class whereas Osimhen is still far from a finished article.

With the attacking trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino Liverpool already have, it does not make sense for them to recruit to two new strikers. So, it seems that Osimhen is either a backup target of the Reds if they fail to land Werner or the transfer rumour is baseless.