LIVERPOOL director of football Damien Comolli has praised the qualities of potential target Blaise Matuidi.

The highly-rated Saint Etienne midfielder has been linked with a move to Anfield this summer.

“In France, all the figures prove that the player who wins the most possession at the feet of his opponents is Blaise Matuidi,” Comolli said.

“That is an extraordinary strong point. When the team plays high, it means a goal chance.”

Comolli has revealed how statistics now play a key role in the Reds’ transfer decisions. He says the policy has already paid off with the acquisition of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez combined with the sale of Fernando Torres in January.

“When you find yourself handling three of the biggest transfers in English football history in the last days of the market, precise figures allow you not to do that blind,” he added.

“You have to act quickly. For Luis, I asked scouts to make enquiries in Holland. I looked at his stats over the last three years – especially the number of matches played.

“We are going in the right direction of players who don’t get injured. We are going to take more and more account of the health of a player in the future. It costs so much having players who don’t play. With Luis, we took account of the number of decisive passes, his performances against the big teams, against the little ones, in Europe, the difference between his goals scored at home and away.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool have strengthened their scouting department with the acquisition of Mel Johnson – the man responsible for bringing Gareth Bale to Tottenham. Johnson, who previously worked under Comolli at Spurs, has been placed in charge of southern England scouting.