Liverpool could be at risk of missing out on a teenage prodigy with whom they were linked during the autumn, with a bid having been submitted from elsewhere for the player.
German reporter Florian Plettenberg posted on X on Monday afternoon that Bayern Munich ‘have submitted an official offer’ for Assan Ouedraogo, the Schalke 04 midfielder in whom the Reds are believed to have taken an interest.
The Bundesliga champions are thought to have offered a bid of €15m (£12.9m) encompassing a five-year deal for the 17-year-old, who the same journalist claimed in October had been monitored by the Merseysiders.
Ouedraogo has earned comparisons with a certain Xabi Alonso for his style of play, with the official Bundesliga website having noted how the teenage midfielder ‘likes to drop deep and build attacks from there’.
The youngster had forged his way into Schalke’s first team earlier this season, playing in each of their first 11 league matches before succumbing to a hamstring injury (Transfermarkt).
He even became the Gelsenkirchen club’s youngest-ever player and goalscorer when netting on his debut in their 5-3 defeat to Hamburg last August (bundesliga.com), and for Germany’s foremost club in Bayern to lodge a bid for him shows just how highly he’s rated in his homeland.
News of that offer might also prompt Liverpool into action if they’re still firmly interested in Ouedraogo, as otherwise the Anfield giants run the risk of losing out on him to the Bundesliga champions.
Then again, if they sign him and he doesn’t manage to become a regular at the Allianz Arena, he might duly replicate the move made by Ryan Gravenberch in swapping Bavaria for Merseyside.
For now, it’ll be interesting to see if Bayern’s bid sparks Jorg Schmadtke and co into action.
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