Liverpool keeping tabs on excellent midfielder with 118 G/A contributions in 301 career games | OneFootball

Arne Slot decided not to enter the transfer market in a big way in the summer, but that didn’t necessarily mean there were no players out there he wanted to acquire.

In many respects, taking the view that he’ll wait until January to see if there are any of the players who regularly starred under Jurgen Klopp that are starting to wane in terms of their abilities or importance in games, was a master stroke.

Arne Slot eyeing talented midfielder for Liverpool

Not only will it have given those players the confidence that Slot wasn’t just the new broom sweeping clean, but it would also mean that they have a chance to prove themselves rather than having been cast aside just because the new man in charge has come in.

If anything, all Slot has had to worry about at this stage is players not extending their contracts, though in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s case, he might want to think again.

Slot certainly doesn’t seem averse to a transfer or two if they’re right for the club, but he’s clearly a manager that knows his own mind and is unlikely to be swayed if he makes a decision.

Arne Slot could sign talented midfielder Orkun Kokcu for Liverpool. Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images

Decisions that are unpopular don’t appear to faze him either, and we’ve seen Trent benched a couple of times this season which he hasn’t seemed happy about.

In Slot, Liverpool have another manager that demands the very best, and though he may not be as demonstrable on the sidelines as Jurgen Klopp was, be in no doubt at all, that he’s got the personality and nous for the job.

He knows exactly how he wants his Liverpool team to play and what kind of players he needs to execute that vision.

Perhaps that’s why, according to Record, he’s having his scouts watch Orkun Kokcu, a midfielder with an impressive 67 goals and 51 assists in 301 career games per transfermarkt.

It isn’t clear how much the Benfica man would cost, though at 23 and with his peak years still some way off, he’s unlikely to be cheap.