Liverpool warned that Rodrigo de Paul will cost ‘a lot of money’

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Liverpool have been warned by Udinese that reported target Rodrigo De Paul will cost them “a lot of money” this summer should they press ahead with transfer negotiations for the midfielder.

With Gini Wijnaldum expected to leave Anfield this summer following the expiration of his contract, the Reds will be on the lookout for a replacement.

FootballTransfers previously detailed some of the names being linked with a move to the defending Premier League champions.

One of the prime candidates is believed to be De Paul, who continues to excel for Udinese in Serie A.

However he, and fellow highly-rated team-mate Juan Musso, won’t come cheap.

“It takes a lot of money to get them, but it’s not like we went looking for potential buyers,” Udinese director Pierpaolo Marino said.

“I don’t have the problem of needing to advertise them. If someone doesn’t realise how strong they are, selfishly, it’s better for me.”

How has De Paul been performing at Udinese?

Udinese have consistently been midtable over the past few years, but De Paul’s stock has continued to rise even in an average team.

His goal contributions continue to impress from midfield both in goalscoring and assisting.

De Paul has an overall FootballCritic rating of 84 from his recent form.

His real talents lie in his creativity, as despite only having five assists to his name in Serie A this season, he has created more Big Chances than anyone with 17. Only Josip Ilicic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan come close to this tally, and even that pair are a few behind on 14.

We could, then, hypothesise that if De Paul were playing with less profligate forwards like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino, then his assist count would only rise due to the quality service he provides his team-mates.

Despite playing central midfield, he has the ninth best tally for successful crosses sent into the box, too, with 7.2 per 90, while he also completes 3.2 dribbles per 90.