Mahmoud Dahoud Chooses Borussia Dortmund

Hours after Liverpool leaked information to club friendly journalists detailing the how and why of a claimed abandonment of the Mahmoud Dahoud chase in the autumn following their initial, unsuccessful attempts to sign him over the summer, word from Borussia Dortmund has the midfielder finalising a move to that club.

According to local Dortmund outlet Waz, Dahoud has decided he wants to stay in Germany and has spent the international break hunting for a home in the city it now seems certain he will be moving to when the current season ends and the transfer window opens. And with that, any thoughts of Dahoud at Liverpool end.

Fans will likely argue over Liverpool’s attempts to get out in front of Dahoud’s Dortmund transfer with a story outlining why and how their interest ended, with manager Jürgen Klopp said to have found a similar passing range with greater defensive steel by playing Jordan Henderson in the six, but that is the club’s stance.

Dahoud was intended to arrive as a deep lying playmaker, and if Henderson can provide that in the six while Emre Can offers a more driving alternative at the position—assuming of course that he signs a new deal to remain at the club and isn’t sold in the summer—then there might not have been room for him.

Instead, Liverpool are said to be looking to bring in a player with more attacking thrust in the form of 22-year-old Guinean and RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, who now becomes the club’s top midfield target. Keita’s signing, along with a new deal for Can, are the sum of the club’s intended midfield moves.

Meanwhile, there has been talk of Klopp being handed the largest transfer budget a Liverpool manager has ever received and suggestions that along with Keita, a starting-calibre versatile attacker will be brought in. A starting centre half and left back also appear likely to be signed.