Liverpool eyes move for $70m La Liga star as scouts sent to Europa League game

Liverpool reportedly sent scouts to watch Real Sociedad's Takefusa Kubo during a recent Europa League game between Real Sociedad and Ajax.

The 23-year-old scored and assisted in last Thursday's match in the Basque Country, and the Reds' scouts will no doubt have left Spain impressed with what they had seen from him.

Kubo, a right winger, is said to be being considered as a possible replacement for Mohamed Salah, whose future at Anfield remains unclear amid an impasse in contract talks.

As things stand, Salah is set to become a free agent at the end of the campaign and Liverpool is clearly making contingency plans for if he ends up leaving.

• One-year contract for Mohamed Salah would be insulting - he deserves so much more

• Pep Guardiola makes 'delusional' point after notcing something in Man City loss to Liverpool

Left-footer Kubo has some way to go to match Salah's attacking output, with the youngster having registered five goal contributions this season compared to Salah's 24, but he is a player deemed to have high potential.

Kubo is reported to have a $70million release clause — which reports in Japan said that Liverpool was willing to trigger last summer — and journalist Graeme Bailey told Rousing the Kop that the Reds have been monitoring him for a while.

“That game (Sociedad vs Ajax) allowed them to watch Martin Zubimendi and Jorell Hato as well as Kubo,” Bailey said. “Obviously Kubo had a very good game against Hato and he’s having a very good season.

“Liverpool’s interest goes back nearly a decade now,” adds Bailey. “He’s been having all the biggest clubs in Europe looking at him since his teens. He’s really getting his chance now and doing really well.

“He’s the sort of player Liverpool will be looking at and I think he’s one who’s on the list and who they’ve been keeping tabs on for an awful long time.”

Bailey also said there is no issue between Liverpool and Sociedad over the breakdown of Martin Zubimendi's proposed move to Liverpool in August of this year.

“The relationship with Real Sociedad is not an issue,” he said. “They’re all big boys, they know how it works. If Liverpool were going to go for a Kubo or Zubimendi they’d be under no obligation to talk to Sociedad, but Liverpool are a class act off the pitch and they would do that.”