Liverpool Transfer News: Reds Wise to Chase Emre Can and Son Heung-Min

Whether Liverpool win the Premier League title this campaign or not, they will need to reinforce their squad for next season’s Champions League.

Bayer Leverkusen duo Emre Can and Son Heung-min would be two excellent additions to their summer shopping list.

The 20-year-old Can has enjoyed an impressive breakthrough season for Leverkusen after joining from Bayern Munich in the summer. According to Paul Hetherington of the Daily Star, he has caught the eye in such a fashion that he has drawn comparisons to Michael Ballack.

The Germany U21 international is tall—standing at over 6'0"—pacy and seems to have all the attributes necessary for the combative nature of the Premier League.

He also has the versatility to perform at left-back, which will be seen as a big plus by Reds boss Brendan Rodgers.

Midfield has not been an area of weakness for Liverpool this season, with Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho all performing extremely well under Rodgers.

Both Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen have contributed admirably as well, but there is no question that if the Reds are planning to launch a successful Champions League campaign, then they must enlarge their squad.

Rodgers must also add some Champions League experience and, despite his tender age, Can has seen much more European game time than most of the Liverpool midfield.

Can turned out seven times for Leverkusen in this season’s Champions League, and facing the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Shakhtar Donetsk will have made him all the more rounded a player.

Son has also gained some invaluable experience on Europe’s biggest stage this year and has an impressive 23 caps for South Korea at the age of 21.

He is a much more advanced player than Can and operates along the front line rather than midfield.

This is an important area for the Reds to strengthen because after their first-choice forwards, they have little in reserve.

The Spanish duo of Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas have failed to make any impact at all at Anfield whilst Victor Moses has been disappointing on loan from Chelsea. Son could serve as a replacement for these underperformers.

These Leverkusen starlets are two of the brightest young talents in European football. Son is set to star at this summer’s World Cup while Can could make a late bid for a place in Germany’s squad and be on the plane to Brazil as well.

Securing their services this summer, while Liverpool are on something of a high, would represent excellent business not only for the present, but for plenty of years to come.

The only caveat is that the area that obviously needs strengthening in the Liverpool squad is the defence. The Reds have conceded 46 goals this season, which is a higher total than those of Crystal Palace and Hull, who sit in 11th and 13th place, respectively.

While the Leverkusen youngsters would be excellent additions, improving the defence must be the No. 1 priority.