When Erling Haaland broke onto the scene, he came out of nowhere, and immediately swept every talent under the rug. Tall, fast and fearless, the Norwegian is the definition of a supreme footballer. At his best, he plays like a giant among mortal humans and leaves defenders trailing and sprawling on the ground in his wake.
It wasn’t Red Bull Salzburg who first introduced the football world to his electric and boisterous playing style, but it was the Austrian outfit that made him into one of the best talents in world football today.
Without Salzburg, the Norwegian may never have had the exposure to a competition like the Champions League and earned the kind of mega-money moves that has since him conquer the Bundesliga and the Premier League ever since.
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But Haaland is not an anomaly in the Red Bull machine. It’s a well-oiled system that produces forwards like an efficient factory line, one after another. They just keep coming and then moving onto some of the best sides in European football.
From Patson Daka to Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Šeško, the list just goes on and on.
It’s a model Liverpool are undoubtedly familiar with. Back under Michael Edwards, the club’s former sporting director had a bit of a soft spot for signing Red Bull products. Sadio Mané, Naby Keïta, and Takumi Minamino are evidence enough for that.
And while Edwards may no longer be at the club, Liverpool’s transfer trend should continue in the future with Salzburg the kind of football factory of excellence where there is always talent to be found to enhance the squad.
The latest of those players looking to follow in the footsteps of Haaland is Ivorian international Karim Konaté. Just 18 years old, Konaté already made waves back home in Africa as a teenager scoring 20 goals in 29 games for his boyhood side ASEC Mimosas in the league as well as 10 goals in 12 games in the African Confederations Cup and the African Champions League.
Having been coveted by numerous European giants, he had to wait until his 18th birthday to make the move to Europe and chose wisely. Instead of being fooled by the allure of some European giants, Konaté opted for the pragmatic option of Salzburg, where he hasn’t taken long to settle.
To acclimatize to European football, Salzburg has been playing Konaté in the club’s second team, Liefering, who play in the Austrian second division, and despite the team’s struggles, the youngster has scored an impressive 10 goals and registered two assists for the side in just 14 games so far.
At to that five goals and two assists for Salzburg’s U19 side in the UEFA Youth League in just six games, and Konaté hasn’t just settled into European football, he has taken it by storm.
Perhaps his biggest test to date with Salzburg’s friendly with Bayern Munich on Friday night, but again Konaté did not disappoint scoring his first unofficial goal for his side’s first team against the Bundesliga champions.
A clever and intelligent forward in the style of Haaland with speed and power, Konaté has shown he is ready for the next step, and before long, it is inevitable that he will be scoring goals on a regular basis for Salzburg’s first team.
This means, unless Liverpool wants to miss out on another supreme Salzburg talent, they will have to act fast in order to lure him to Anfield, and therefore the club’s scouts should be keeping a very close eye on his development.
Source: newsnow
