African star confirms he's ready to join Liverpool | OneFootball

An African star has confirmed he's now ready to join Liverpool.

Richard Hughes is expected to make midfield reinforcements one of Liverpool’s biggest priorities this summer, and the groundwork is already well underway behind the scenes.

Anfield Watch understands the club have put together a pretty ambitious shortlist of targets, with several midfielders currently being discussed internally.

However, a lot of the club's midfield activity will be dependant on outgoings.

That’s very much the Liverpool way. They like to move early in the market rather than scrambling around late in the window, so expect the list to be narrowed down over the next few weeks as Hughes and the recruitment team decide who they really want to push for.

The midfield has become such an important area because there’s a lot of uncertainty around a couple of key players. Talks over a new deal for Alexis Mac Allister have reportedly hit a standstill, while Curtis Jones is now entering the final year of his current contract. Neither situation is ideal, especially when both players are such important parts of the squad.

Because of that, Liverpool are expected to go after at least two midfielders this summer, and that number could easily rise if there are more departures. The club know they need more depth and long-term stability in the middle of the pitch, particularly as the squad continues to evolve over the next couple of years.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but it’s clear midfield planning is already a major focus ahead of what could be a really important summer at Anfield.

If Liverpool are looking for the perfect blueprint for their next midfield signing, they should be looking at Fabinho.

At his best, the Brazilian was absolutely vital to everything Liverpool did under Jurgen Klopp. He gave the team balance, control and security in midfield, allowing the more attacking players around him to play with freedom. A lot of Liverpool’s success during that era was built on Fabinho quietly doing the dirty work in the background.

What made him so special was how easy he made everything look. He rarely flew into reckless tackles or made desperate recoveries because his reading of the game was so good.

More often than not, he had already spotted the danger before it fully developed. His positioning was elite. He constantly blocked passing lanes, protected the defence and slowed down counter-attacks before they became real problems.

In one-vs-one situations, he was dominant as well. Fabinho used his long reach, composure and timing brilliantly to win the ball back cleanly and immediately get Liverpool playing again. That ability to control the middle of the pitch became one of the foundations of Klopp’s best side.

Since leaving Liverpool in 2023, the club have never really replaced him properly. The newer midfielders have brought energy, creativity and technical quality, but none of them offer the same authority or defensive discipline Fabinho did at his peak.

Even now, there are still moments where his absence feels obvious, especially in the biggest games when control in midfield matters most.

One player who could bring about that control is Mamadou Sangare. Just like Fabinho he has impressed in Ligue 1 but rather than AS Monaco, it's at RC Lens where he has caught the eye this season.

Sangare was voted the best African player in Ligue 1 this season, which is a massive feat in itself.

Liverpool have been heavily linked with the 23-year-old Malian and coming up against Paris Saint Germain on Wednesday night, Sangare confirmed he was ready to join the Reds.

This was a performance against one of the best teams in the world and Sangare bossed PSG, despite his team losing 2-0.

Sangare won the most duels (8), made the most recoveries (13) and the most passes into the final third (13) while also creating three chances.

He dominated and was everywhere producing a performance that took your breath away because it was exactly the kind of performance Liverpool midfielders have not delivered since Fabinho left.