Liverpool have been linked with a move for Sassuolo and Italy winger Domenico Berardi. Berardi has come through the ranks at Sassuolo and has made nearly 300 appearances for the club in all competitions.
As per Corriere della Sera (via Sport Witness), Liverpool and AC Milan are interested in the 26-year-old. The Reds will have to pay a fee of around €50 million for the Italian international. Manager Jurgen Klopp and his coaches like Berardi’s movement and ability in the final third.
The Italian has scored 105 goals and provided 67 assists for Sassuolo in 291 appearances for the club. He has three years remaining on his current deal at Sassuolo.
Domenico Berardi: A top addition to the squad?
Domenico Berardi was a part of the Italian squad that won Euro 2020 earlier this month. Berardi made six appearances in the competition, starting three games and coming on as a substitute in the remaining three games.
The Italian is a talented wide man who primarily plays on the right wing. The left-footed winger likes to cut into central areas with his dribbling and speed, trying to conjure goals and assists in the process. He scored 17 times and assisted 7 times in 30 Serie A appearances last season. Berardi has the ability to create magic out of nothing thanks to his superb technical ability, vision, and inventiveness. In the 2020-21 Serie A season, he averaged 3.8 shots on goal per game, while also making 1.9 key passes per game.
He predominantly plays out wide, but is capable of playing centrally as a striker as well. Berardi is also a hard-working individual defensively, tracking back to help his full-back and midfielders. The Italian likes to get involved in the game at all times and often contributes to his team’s cause even if he fails to get his name on the score sheet.
The signing of Domenico Berardi would be a good move by Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp. The Italian has the ability to be a top-class attacker in the Premier League and would add competition to the Reds’ wide areas. Mohamed Salah, who has been Liverpool’s talisman in attack in the last few seasons, had a fantastic 2020-21 campaign. He will be the Merseyside club’s first-choice right-winger, but there have been rumours about Real Madrid eyeing a move for the Egyptian.
Berardi could be a long-term replacement for Salah in the Liverpool side. The Reds don’t have a high-quality backup player on the right side, while the left side of attack has Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota – both fine players. The Italian is 26 years of age and is at the prime time to take a big step up in his career, and Liverpool could be a good destination for him to improve his game further and win trophies.
Even if Liverpool manage to retain the services of Mohamed Salah, Klopp has experienced first hand, the damning effect a couple of key injuries could have on his team. The area affected last season was the defence but the hierarchy will know that the attack could also face a similar fate in the future. On top of that, there is also the fact that despite having their first choice trio in attack for the whole of last season, Liverpool failed to impress in the final third as well.
Klopp will want more options and a quality addition like Domenico Berardi will keep the Egyptian forward on his toes as well.
