Liverpool have ‘edge’ in race for 22-year-old who’s faster than Adama Traore – journalist

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Liverpool have been linked with Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven in recent weeks.

According to Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung (via Voetbal Primeur), Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have set their sights on the 22-year-old.

Liverpool have also been handed a boost by Van de Ven as he admitted he’s open to joining a “nice club” this summer.

In addition, the Dutchman seemed to welcome links with the Anfield outfit and called the Reds a “great club”.

Now, BILD’s Christian Falk has provided another positive update regarding Liverpool and Van de Ven.

He wrote on Substack that the Reds currently have “a slight edge” on Bayern Munich in terms of the race for the defender.

This is because Jorg Schmadtke, who has recently joined Liverpool, was the man responsible for bringing Van de Ven to his current club.

Better still, Falk claims that the player’s market value is currently just €18million, or around £15million.

Falk said: “As with Kim Min-jae, the Bundesliga champions have Premier League competition to contend with as Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg is wanted by both Bayern and Liverpool.

“It’s the Reds that have a slight edge given that it was their new sporting director, Jorg Schmadtke, who brought van de Ven to Wolfsburg from FC Volendam in 2021 for a fee of just €3.5m.

“The 22-year-old’s market value is now €18m. And he has a contract at Wolfsburg that runs until 2027 without an exit clause. Schmadtke knows best.”

Our view

Liverpool could certainly do with bolstering their defensive ranks this summer as their rebuild continues to take shape.

Van de Ven ticks pretty much all the boxes for the Reds.

Aside from his quality, leadership skills and attitude, his height, physicality and speed are all ‘exceptional‘.

Van de Van is 6ft 4in and, according to Football Talent Scout, has clocked up a top speed of 35.87kph.

As per The Mirror, this makes him faster than the likes of Luis Diaz, Adama Traore, and Marcus Rashford.

Now, it would be amazing were Liverpool to sign him for just £15million. However, other reports have suggested Wolfsburg want £34million for him.

Hopefully the Reds can maybe meet somewhere in the middle. This would still be an absolute bargain for the Anfield side.