Liverpool’s quest for a midfielder in the summer had the club linked with players such as Aurelian Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham, and Marco Ascensio, but nothing materialised for any of them and Jurgen Klopp reluctantly gave up the chase.
The German eventually resorted to a deadline day move for Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo on a season-long loan deal, however, it wasn’t exactly a move that excited the Anfield faithful.
The club were also looking at another midfielder during the summer window, and with his current performances, it looks like Klopp has missed a trick.
Liverpool should have signed Bennacer
As the window was coming to an end in late August, La Gazzetta Dello Sport (via Paisley Gates) stated that Liverpool had been interested in Bennacer for quite some time.
The AC Milan midfielder has a £42m release clause in his contract, however, a move didn’t happen and Klopp might regret this.
In fact, according to CIES Football Observatory, Bennacer is actually outperforming Bellingham, especially over the previous six months.
This is an incredible feat considering the English midfielder has been valued at a whopping £131.6m in recent weeks.
The Algerian ranks in 87th position with a score of 82.5, while the Englishman was way down in 264th place with a score of 77.9, proving just how underrated AC Milan’s attacking midfielder is.
Stefano Pioli, his current manager, hailed him as “complete” as he helped lead the club to Serie A glory last season while journalist Khaireddine Rouba labelled him a “warrior” for his displays with the national team.
The Algerian ranks in the top 1% of his positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues for dribbles completed (2.05 per 90) and in the top 5% for shot-creating actions (3.55) and these are qualities that Klopp is crying out for in his Liverpool midfield.
In comparison, Bellingham ranks behind the Milan midfielder for dribbles completed per 90 on 1.74, while he produces 3.11 shot-creating actions. Those numbers are still incredibly impressive but Bennacer still manages to eclipse him in those two departments.
With Real Madrid currently in the hunt for Bellingham, it appears the Anfield side have a battle on their hands to lure the 19-year-old to England.
The performances of Bennacer, however, suggest that there are cheaper, and potentially better, options available.
The next few months could be crucial for Klopp and his side, with stuttering league form, they might be out of a title race before too long, especially with Manchester City looking so dominant.
They had a nightmare over the Algerian star and the decision might just be coming back to haunt them.