Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are among the thickening pool of contenders for Spanish starlet Gabri Veiga’s signature, with the 20-year-old prospect in electrifying form for Celta Vigo this season.

What’s the latest on Veiga to Liverpool?

Having made a resounding dawn to top-flight LaLiga football, Veiga has found himself at the centre of attention from some of Europe’s most distinguished outfits, with Liverpool included.

According to Spanish outlet AS, the Reds are “already talking” to Veiga – who has a €40m (£35m) release clause – though the same can be said for Manchester City, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

Divisional rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid are ostensibly front-runners in the race, but with the centre of the park pleading for repairs at Anfield this summer, Veiga could find a successful home on Merseyside.

How good is Gabri Veiga?

Last season, Veiga was plying his trade in his homeland’s third footballing tier, scoring nine goals and registering an assist from 31 outings for Vigo’s B team in the Primera Federación.

His exploits would lead to a smattering of chances with the first team; Veiga would play seven times in the league and three times in the Copa del Rey, impressing and making five successive divisional appearances at the end of the term.

Hailed as a “Spanish gem” by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Veiga’s prowess sets him on a shelf that towers over the throngs of hopefuls looking to earn a place among the upper echelon of talent in Europe, and Liverpool would benefit immensely from a prodigious offensive-midfielder of his ilk.

In his breakout year with The Sky Blues, the 6 foot menace has defied expectations with his clinical and enterprising performances, scoring nine goals and supplying four assists from only 22 LaLiga starts and earning plaudits for his “intelligent” aura on the grass by his gaffer, Carlos Carvahal.

The one-cap Spain U21 international would certainly be a "dangerous" component for Klopp, as remarked by reporter Euan McTear, as the eccentric German looks to rekindle his side’s flame on Merseyside.

Pumping fresh life back into the midfield is the perfect way to ensure silverware is gleaned once again, and with the emphatic resurgence of Arsenal well-documented this season, Klopp might be wise to take a leaf from Gunners boss Mikel Arteta’s book and emulate the feats of captain Martin Odegaard, who has been dubbed "exceptional" by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

Signed for the north London giants on an initial loan deal from Real Madrid in January 2021, the Norwegian maestro was swiftly snapped up on a £30m permanent transfer in the summer after impressing with his early showings; a precocious youth, Odegaard is growing into his skin at the Emirates after failing to make the mark with Los Blancos, donning the armband and serving as the catalyst for Arteta's title-chasing team.

This season alone, the 49-cap ace has plundered 12 goals and eight assists in the Premier League, while demonstrating the superlative strength of his rounded skill set by ranking inside the top 1% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues for rate of goals, the top 2% for shot-creating actions, the top 12% for progressive carries and the top 14% for successful take-ons, as per FBref.

With Veiga boasting a remarkable semblance to his 24-year-old confrere, himself ranking among the top 1% of midfielders for rate of goals, the top 11% for progressive carries and the top 5% for successful take-ons, Klopp's Reds could finally have the frontal-thinking cog to whir the engine back into life from the middle.

Liverpool's robust system has been built on the creativity of full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and while both marauders offer an auxiliary excellence paralleled by a scant few, maybe it's time for Klopp to veer away from the workmanlike midfield he has built his dynasty upon and open up a new offensive outlet to forge an auspicious future.

Veiga is a relatively untested commodity, but the statistics tend to tell the truth and given the fortunes of Arsenal and City, yielding two of football's greatest attacking midfielders in Odegaard and Kevin De Bruyne, Liverpool would only prosper with the addition of their own force of nature to pull the strings.