Liverpool sniffing around Monaco's Akliouche as the Salah replacement circus rolls on

The Reds, bless their cotton socks, have been poking around for the 24-year-old France international. He clocked 31 Ligue 1 games last season, chipping in six goals and six assists. Solid numbers, if you're into that sort of thing.

Of course, it's never simple. Paris Saint-Germain's already been sniffing around Akliouche, tossing in multiple offers. Their latest, a cool £34m, got them absolutely nowhere; Monaco just laughed them off. Good for Monaco. This kid's got range, playing out wide on the right or tucked in as an attacking midfielder. Handy for Iraola's gung-ho pressing style. Last season, he was carving defenses open, a proper nuisance with the ball, and seemed to pop up everywhere when the opposition coughed it up high up the pitch.

This isn't their first rodeo. Liverpool's already struck out on a few. Remember Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig? The Reds chased him, but apparently, £112m was too rich for their blood. They threw £86m at Leipzig instead. No dice. Still, they did manage to snag Victor Munoz from Osasuna for £34.5m. A consolation prize, perhaps?

Iraola, bless his honest heart, didn't mince words this week. Standing before the press, he flat-out admitted: "we definitely need to sign a winger." Can't argue with that, not with Salah's shadow looming. As for how many new faces? He kept that vague, naturally. Just muttered something about "other positions" and "injury cover" if the market aligns and the price is right. Standard managerial mumbo jumbo, really.

Good news for the summer transfer window, at least: Akliouche sat on France's bench when they lost their World Cup third-place play-off to England. That suggests he's not exactly chained to his national team calendar right now. A positive, perhaps, in a sea of unknowns.