Report: Liverpool targeting £35m move for ‘Swiss Army knife’ player who’d be a ‘perfect fit’

The Bundesliga outfit are likely to seek around €40m (£34.6m) for the Sweden international, whose aspirations of playing in the Premier League are described as an ‘open secret’.

BVB chiefs would prefer to keep him at Signal Iduna Park and would demand a sizeable offer just to begin negotiations, but he isn’t regarded as ‘untouchable’.

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What qualities would Svensson bring to Liverpool?

Svensson has been described as ‘the definition of a modern full-back’ whose attributes fit into the ‘Swiss Army knife’ profile of today’s game, and his ‘physicality and pressing ability’ is seen as a ‘perfect fit’ for Liverpool’s system (Fussball Daten).

He plays as a wing-back in Niko Kovac’s setup for Dortmund, and his licence to get forward has led to him chipping in with four goals and two assists this season, with one of each coming against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in February (Transfermarkt).

His underlying performance statistics in comparison with other left-backs in the German top flight this term are moderate overall, although he has stood out in terms of his attacking profile, as seen below with data from Fotmob.

Svensson would certainly seem more than capable of providing stern competition for Kerkez at left-back for Liverpool, and if the Reds were to sign him, his arrival would almost certainly prompt the permanent sale of Kostas Tsimikas after the latter returns from his loan spell at Roma.

FSG will need to prioritise certain parts of the squad in the summer transfer window, and it remains to be seen whether the full-back positions will be near the top of that list, but the Swedish defender definitely seems like an intriguing target.