Liverpool told to sign BARGAIN playmaker instead of Florian Wirtz | OneFootball

Liverpool may have a significant spending budget to utilise this summer but the number crunchers at the club's recruitment department might be eyeing up more cost-effective signings.

As with every transfer window, finding the balance between getting value for money, and delivering everything the team needs from the available funds is particularly difficult.

Bringing in a playmaker was not envisaged as a major piece of business, but it seems as though the club is willing to consider the available options and leave no stone unturned.

Florian Wirtz is the latest star to be linked with the club and a move for the German at Bayer Leverkusen would be a massive transfer, not least because his asking price is around £125m.

But there are plenty of far cheaper alternatives and Liverpool could get a similar asset for a bargain price if Richard Hughes is wiling to pivot in his endeavour for a new No.10.

'Cheaper and easier': How Cherki could save Liverpool £105m

According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are 'keen to pounce' on Rayan Cherki.

The 21-year-old is available for just £20m from Lyon this summer, as a result of a contingent the player included in his contract extension last season.

As such, it has been reported that he would be available as a 'cheaper and easier to get' target than Wirtz as 'both players are similarly creative and play with lots of flair'.

Upon looking at the stats, it is entirely reasonable to compare the pair, with Cherki having delivered 12 goals and 19 assists this season to Wirtz's 16 goals and 14 assists.

So how come we are even having a debate about such similar talents with polarising price tags?

Well, the quality of the two does differ ever so slightly and there is a disparaging amount of experience between the two profiles. Wirtz has five seasons under his belt at the professional level, whereas Cherki has only really featured regularly in the past three campaigns.

As such, you are perhaps making a slight gamble by choosing Wirtz over Cherki.

Furthermore, the German has already been able to break through into his country's national team setup and he has already got a taste of Champions League football.

But is all that really worth an extra £100m of financial outlay? Personally, no. But Liverpool will still be having those conversations and the club's long-standing interest in Wirtz might be pivotal.

In addition, the fight to sign Cherki is not going to be straight-forward given his remarkably cheap price, although the project that Liverpool can offer him is as good as any club in the world.

One thing for certain, however, is now that a playmaker is a position that Liverpool feel needs to be on the shopping list, we will be set for a long summer of updates before anything is agreed - neither of these deals is likely to be straightforward to complete.