When Richard Hughes spoke to the world for the first – and so far only – time as Liverpool’s sporting director, his message was relatively clear.

Hughes had only just joined from Bournemouth and supporters were fascinated to hear from the new man in charge of their first-team recruitment.

And while Arne Slot really stole the show that day, Hughes was impressive in the way he spoke about his vision for Liverpool.

One of the things the former Scotland midfielder was keen to emphasise was that the Reds would be ‘opportunistic’ in the way they added to the Liverpool squad.

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“With the window open we will always be opportunistic if we can, if we can improve certain areas as we go we will look to do that,” Hughes said.

Six months on from that first impression of Hughes and Slot, and the pair look like they may be set to be presented with an almighty opportunity in the January window.



Photo by Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

During that first meeting, Hughes and Slot were both keen to stress that they each will be heavily involved in the recruitment strategy.

This is not Hughes’ show alone, the Liverpool head coach will clearly get a big say in who is brought in.

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Since his arrival, Slot has sometimes been at pains to stress the similarities between his style of play and that seen at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.

However, one major difference is that Slot likes to play with one clear attacking midfielder.

With Dominik Szoboszlai not fulfilling this role quite as well as he could be, it would stand to reason that Liverpool may be looking for the ideal player to take over.

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That perfect pick could well be Rayan Cherki.

Tricky, skilful and with an eye for a goal, Cherki could slot nicely into the most advanced midfield role at Liverpool.

And, handily, French outlet RMC Sport have reported that Cherki’s club, Lyon, will listen to offers for every member of their first-team squad in January, with Cherki available for £25-37m.

Although there are other areas of the Liverpool squad which should be more of a priority, signing a recognised number 10 may help Slot implement his ideas even better than he already has.

A player like Cherki becoming available at an affordable price might just make the Reds overlook other positions to get the deal done.

SeasonApperancesGoalsAssists2019/2013302020/2130432021/2220222022/2339562023/2439392024/25*17*5*7*Rayan Cherki at Lyon *season ongoing

The French press certainly seem to believe that to be the case, anyway.

Thursday brought suggestions that Liverpool are in pole position to sign Cherki alongside PSG.

With bolstering central midfield, left-back and central defence feeling like more pressing matters, though, supporters may be surprised to see the 21-year-old named as a key target.

But Hughes and Slot clearly want to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented to them.

This one involving a potentially prodigious young talent looks like being one that is simply too good to miss.