Liverpool Transfer News: Latest on Lucas Moura and Mateo Kovacic Rumours

Liverpool have again been linked with summer moves for Paris Saint-Germain's Lucas Moura and Real Madrid's Mateo Kovacic, with the former being described as the "most likely to happen this summer."

According to Sky Sports, website Football Whispers has devised an algorithm that assesses the credibility of transfer rumours, and the outlet believes Moura is the player likeliest to join the Reds, with a score of 4.3 out of 5.

The Reds have been rumoured to be targeting him for some time, with Claudio Colla of Transfermarketweb (h/t Metro) reporting in March that Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp was weighing up a summer bid.

Moura bagged 13 goals and five assists in all competitions for PSG last season. He was a regular for the side, making 56 appearances, but he started just 32 games and only completed 90 minutes on 13 occasions.

Here are some of his highlights:

The 23-year-old can play on either flank and would look to occupy one of Liverpool's three places behind Daniel Sturridge. Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino seem secure in two of them, but Adam Lallana has yet to nail down a permanent starting berth.

Lallana has played well under Klopp but is not prolific—he has scored just 13 goals in 90 Liverpool appearances, and while he had a reasonable scoring record at Southampton, with 59 in 260 outings, most of those were notched in the Championship or League One.

The Sunday Times' Jonathan Northcroft noted as much during England's goalless draw against Slovakia on Monday:

Moura offers more of a goal threat and can terrorise defences with his pace and trickery. However, the Brazilian has trouble with consistency, as noted by Bleacher Report's Ligue 1 writer Andrew Gibney:

Though he has time to add that to his game, it will be a concern that it's a notable problem even against the lower calibre of defences in Ligue 1.

Further, while Coutinho is capable of creating moments of genius out of nothing, he too struggles to perform each week. With that being the case, adding another inconsistent player could be a big risk—they might be better off looking elsewhere or sticking with Lallana.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports also noted "Sky in Italy have reported that the Merseysiders are in a battle to sign Kovacic for €30 million (£23 million)." Football Whispers gave the rumour a rating of 2.7.

The Reds pursued the midfielder last summer, per La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t the Telegraph), before he joined Real in August.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

However, the move hasn't worked out for him—he played 1,414 minutes for Los Blancos in a difficult debut season, averaging 42 minutes per game across his 34 appearances, per Transfermarkt.

Bleacher Report UK's Adam Digby criticised him for his performance after he replaced club team-mate Luka Modric for Croatia immediately prior to their collapse against the Czech Republic in the European Championship on Friday:

He only turned 22 in May, though, and remains full of potential. In his last season at Inter Milan, he racked up eight goals and five assists, acting as an impressive box-to-box midfielder who stood out while pushing forward and creating opportunities for his team.

There's room for a player in that mould at Anfield, and another move could reignite his career if he'll be struggling for game time again at the Santiago Bernabeu next season.