There’s every chance you might have had your fill of articles regarding Liverpool’s interest in a certain teenager at Borussia Dortmund. But how about one who isn’t Jude Bellingham?
The Reds are now also being linked with Youssoufa Moukoko, a 17-year-old forward. In the last six weeks alone he has become the Bundesliga’s youngest goal scorer in both the Revierderby (against Schalke) and Der Klassiker (Bayern Munich), so his profile is rising almost every time he takes to the field.
Spanish outlet Sport have claimed that Liverpool are leading the race to sign Moukoko, ahead of Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. Whether that is true or not, as the teenager’s current Dortmund deal expires at the end of this season, he would certainly cost a lot less than his illustrious English teammate.
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If Erling Haaland’s opinion is worth anything, Moukoko’s value might soon rocket anyway, irrespective of his contract status. The Manchester City man has previously described his former colleague as “one of the biggest talents in the world right now,” and few current players know more about being a top striker than the Norwegian.
Indeed, Statsbomb’s data on FBRef has Haaland as one of the 10 forwards with whom Moukoko is most alike, statistically. More pertinent with regards to Liverpool’s potential interest is that Diogo Jota is among the group of similar players too.
Not that the Reds will be looking to replace the Portuguese forward, of course. Having another pressing monster on hand for the times when Jota is unavailable wouldn’t go amiss though. Moukoko isn’t quite at his level for pressures yet, but his rate from his brief senior career is above what Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah usually offer.
The fact his time in the big leagues has been so limited – 1,093 minutes and counting – means that his statistics must be viewed with a degree of caution. Nonetheless, they are undoubtedly impressive.
For instance, Moukoko has scored nine goals from 7.4 expected, which is not the sort of wildly unsustainable over performance that will inevitably regress. It’s interesting too that he is below par in the six-yard box, converting chances which are better than average without being ‘must score’ opportunities in the rest of the penalty area. With greater sharpness from close range, his goal tally could rocket.
And as wasteful as he has been with some of his best openings, the Germany under-21 international (who has six goals in five appearances at that level) is among the top four per cent of forwards in Europe’s big five leagues for non-penalty xG per shot. Chance quality, in other words, and it’s why he’s even higher in the standings for expected goals per 90 minutes (when penalties are excluded). In this sense, Moukoko is not unlike Nunez, except that his numbers are a shade higher.
Not that he fares well at all of the important metrics, inevitably (and not that anyone does). The Cameroon-born forward doesn’t offer too much creatively for his teammates, nor touch the ball in the penalty area that often in light of how little he is involved elsewhere on the pitch.
But then utilising forwards of this nature, in something of a Haaland or Nunez mould, appears to be the way the wind is blowing in elite football at present. And we mustn’t lose sight of the fact we’re talking about a 17-year-old; only one under-18 player (Troyes’ Wilson Odobert) has more minutes in the big leagues this season. He will only get better from here.
A lot of very talented forwards have been mentioned as comparisons for Moukoko in this article. Two years ago, the Bundesliga website suggested Lionel Messi was a valid yardstick. The big names keep piling up, and not without reason. At Liverpool or not, the youngster is destined for the top of the game.
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