Liverpool's Transfer Strategy: Securing Djylian N'Guessan for 2027
Liverpool are moving on two transfer timelines at once – the frantic now, and a carefully plotted future.
With the window ticking into its final days and a deal for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola still awaiting official confirmation, the club have quietly locked in another long-term piece of business. According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign St Etienne striker Djylian N'Guessan, with the teenager scheduled to arrive at Anfield in the summer of 2027.
The agreement is described as complete on both club and player side, with N'Guessan authorised to undergo a medical. The fee remains undisclosed at this stage, but the structure mirrors another recent move: Liverpool’s capture of Genk goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans in a deal worth €35 million, with the young Belgian also set to join next summer.
This is not about next weekend’s team sheet. It is about the spine of Liverpool’s attack three years from now.
Planning for 2027
Liverpool’s recruitment team have clearly widened their lens. While the Barcola pursuit underlines the need for immediate quality in the forward line, the N'Guessan agreement shows a club intent on getting ahead of the market for emerging talent.
N'Guessan only recently turned 18. Primarily a centre-forward, he can also operate from wide areas, giving him the kind of positional flexibility Liverpool have often prized in their attackers. He has already made 13 senior appearances for St Etienne, several of them in the 2024-25 season, but his main minutes have come with the club’s B team and under-19 side.
On the international stage, he has been capped up to under-20 level for his country, a marker of how highly he is regarded in youth circles.
For now, though, his development will continue in France. Staying with St Etienne offers him regular football and a familiar environment, rather than the immediate pressure of breaking into a Liverpool squad chasing trophies on multiple fronts. Liverpool get what they want too: a promising striker secured early, without disrupting his growth curve.
A busy present, a loaded future
This latest move drops into an already crowded narrative around Anfield. Supporters want first-team reinforcements now, not just blueprints for 2027. The expectation remains that Liverpool will add at least one more attacker for the current campaign, with the Barcola deal the headline act waiting for its official unveiling.
Yet the pattern is clear. Brughmans for next summer. N'Guessan for 2027. Liverpool are trying to build a conveyor belt rather than scramble for solutions every August.
The question is whether those long-term bets will sit alongside enough immediate firepower to keep Liverpool at the sharp end of the Premier League and Europe – or whether the real story of this window will only be written when N'Guessan finally walks through the doors at Anfield three years from now.
