Liverpool must pay €50 million if they want to sign 21-year-old attacker this summer: Reports
Liverpool would reportedly have to pay €50 million if they want to get their hands on Stade Rennais winger Jeremy Doku.
Journalist Mohamed Toubache-Ter recently claimed that the Reds are keen on signing Doku. L'Equipe (h/t Get Football News France) have since confirmed that there is interest from the Premier League in the winger.
Doku will reportedly cost €50 million — double what Rennes paid to sign him from Anderlecht in October 2020. Since moving to France, he has registered 11 goals and 10 assists in 90 club games across competitions.
The 14-cap Belgium international has pace to burn and his directness down the right flank can provide Liverpool with the same attacking impetus as Mohamed Salah. He could act as an understudy to the Egyptian superstar before potentially becoming his successor.
The Reds reportedly had the chance to sign Doku in 2018 and even invited him to Anfield to give him a tour of the stadium. According to Liverpool Echo, the Merseyside giants tried to involve Sadio Mane, Jurgen Klopp and Steven Gerrard in a bid to convince him to sign for the club.
Doku, now 21, also had interest from Chelsea and Arsenal that year but snubbed Premier League interest to stay put at Anderlecht.
What Doku said about joining Rennes despite interest from Liverpool
Two years ago, Jeremy Doku himself admitted that he drew interest from Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. But he decided to stay at Anderlecht and when he did leave, he joined Stade Rennais.
Given the clout of the clubs that had circled him, Rennes wasn't the most straightforward choice. In his own words, the winger chose them because he believed it was the right move for his career.
Doku said in an interview with French publication Ouest-France (h/t Liverpool Echo) in March 2021:
"I was going to be 16 and that was the age you can sign a pro contract. A lot of teams came to see me. Everyone talks about Liverpool because it was the most concrete interest but there was also Arsenal and Chelsea...
"I preferred to be careful [on why he chose Rennes]. I knew what my trajectory had to be. That’s why, at 15, I told myself it had become serious, because I’d seen my career. I know what route I needed to take and I knew at that moment I needed to stay at Anderlecht."
At Rennes, Doku hasn't had to struggle for playing time. He has almost always been in their first XI over the last three seasons and would have featured more had he not missed 41 games due to various injuries.