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What's the story?
Jurgen Klopp has identified Borussia Dortmund attacker Christian Pulisic as an alternative for Philippe Coutinho if the latter was to leave Liverpool this season according to the Mirror.
In case you didn't know...
Liverpool have made it clear that they do not want to sell the Brazilian, despite Barcelona preparing to offer more than £80m as there is a lot of speculation regarding their own star Neymar's future.
The ex-Dortmund manager has identified the 18-year old and believes he will be a global star in the near future.
Pulisic has a contract with Dortmund till 2020 and in March 2017, he became Dortmund's youngest scorer to score in the Champions League - he scored his first Champions League goal in a 4-0 win over Benfica in the round of 16.
Also read: 5 replacements for Philippe Coutinho at Liverpool
The heart of the matter
Despite being confident that Coutinho will not leave, Klopp is looking for other options as he believes that that the Brazilian international could be tempted by his former teammate, Luis Suarez, to join the Spanish giants.
Dortmund, on the other hand, are confident of not letting their American international leave. They have no intentions of cashing in on the attacker as of yet. However, Liverpool are set to tempt the German team by offering close to £30m for the 18-year old.
The Reds will need a new creator next season if Coutinho was to leave and Klopp believes Pulisic is the right man.
Pulisic played 43 games in all competitions last season and scored 5 times while assisting 13 times in the process. The 18-year old has refused to leave Germany and plans to stay with Dortmund, at least for the next season.
"When I was little I wanted to play in the Premier League but that I'm in the Bundesliga I'm not planning on a move because (playing in Germany) is what I want to do. I'm really happy there and I'm just kind of going with the flow and I'm happy with it," said the young striker.
Author's take
No doubt that the teenager is talented. And a player of his abilities at such a young age has a very bright future. Klopp would be a happy man if he gets him, irrespective of Coutinho leaving or staying. However, the German will find it difficult to convince the teenager to move to England with his heart set on staying with Dortmund in the Bundesliga.
