Liverpool and Bayern Munich to battle it out for African striker

New Director of Football Strategy at Liverpool Damien Comolli is reportedly set on bringing FC Cluj striker Lacina Traore to the club.

The 20-year old, 6’8” striker, who hails from the Ivory Coast has been linked with Arsenal in the past, but Arsene Wenger’s interest is said to have waned since the Gunners signed Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux in the summer.

Traore has been referred to as the ‘new Emmanuel Adebayor’ in his homeland and has also attracted the interest of Bayern Munich, who are in the same Champions League group as the Romanian side.

In the aftermath of Cluj’s 4-0 defeat to Bayern in the Champions League, club President Iuliu Muresan said: “I spoke with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who is following two of our players. And Traore is one of them.”

His agent, Thomas Boehm, meanwhile, told Sport.co.uk in the summer: “There is interest but at the moment he is with CFR Cluj. We have a close relationship with the management at Cluj and we will talk to them about his future. There is nothing serious at the moment.

“There is a lot of talk with Lacina (Traore). We have had talks and spoken to different teams, but not just in the United Kingdom, but Italy, Germany and Holland. At the moment it is quiet but there could be movement in the next week. At the moment there is nothing concrete.”

The fact that Traore has yet to be capped for the Ivory Coast may prove to be a stumbling block in any deal with Liverpool, as he may not be eligible to secure a work permit in the United Kingdom.