Liverpool are looking for a third new midfielder this summer, but not at the expense of a new central defender
Liverpool are currently focused on signing a third new midfielder this summer as their engine room overhaul continues.
The Reds moved quickly to sign Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai ahead of pre-season, identifying Southampton’s Romeo Lavia as a potential long-term replacement for Fabinho. But with captain Jordan Henderson making a surprise move to Al-Ettifaq on Thursday and the Brazilian expected to join him in Saudi Arabia, where Al-Ittihad are looking to finalize a £40m deal, it is clear that further hiring in the engine of the Liverpool rooms are very high on the agenda.
necessary.
Jurgen Klopp is naturally looking to address this as the Reds have already rejected an offer worth £38m for Lavia and are expected to return with an improved offer of between £40m and £45m. It remains to be seen whether Liverpool will target a fourth new midfielder, who has been blindsided by Saudi moves for two trusted lieutenants.
In any case, the Reds’ summer activity can’t end here.
They shifted their focus to a new centre-back before realizing Saudi interest would force their hand back into midfield as Lavia became more of a priority.
They have already expressed interest in signing a new centre-back and Chelsea’s Levi Colwill has his admirers at Anfield.
Continuing their 3-2-2-3 lineup, their need for additional recruits on defense is greater than ever, and inevitably four senior options won’t be enough to provide enough depth to such a system.
Of those four senior options, Virgil van Dijk is 32, his contract expires in 2025 and he missed eight games last season with injury.
Joel Matip, who will turn 32 next month and lose his contract next summer, has missed 13 games with injury. The injury-prone Cameroonian made just 12 Premier League appearances in 2018/19 and 2019/20 and played just 12 times in the Premier League.
Anfield.
Meanwhile, Ibrahima Konate reportedly missed an impressive 21 games last season with injury but was predominantly first choice when available as the 24-year-old made 24 appearances.
Joe Gomez, on the other hand, missed just four games with injury and started 23 of his 31 appearances in all competitions, as the England international struggled for form and confidence as he fell out of favour. Having suffered a string of serious injuries during his eight years at Anfield, the 26-year-old’s role last year was only bettered by his 43 appearances during the Reds’ 2019/20 Premier League title campaign.
Evidently, history suggests that Liverpool’s centre-back options are hardly reliable staying injury-free, with the result that the Reds are in danger of bankruptcy and such potential problems become even more apparent in their new set-up.
Considering that Gomez will have to be used at right-back at times this season as he has already played in that position in pre-season and Trent Alexander-Arnold is currently needed in midfield while Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas are not necessarily ready for That if there is a centre-back position on the left, it’s obvious that Klopp is looking for a new signing.
“We are looking at all departments at the moment except for the goalkeeper,” the German admitted to reporters in May when asked if he would sign a new centre-back. “Yes, if there is a good centre-back, I wouldn’t deny it. That’s it. We definitely look at all areas of the pitch.
Liverpool are inevitably still reeling from the defensive injury crisis that gripped their side in the 2020/21 season, when all three experienced centre-backs (Van Dijk, Matip and Gomez) were ruled out with season-ending injuries. Because they chose not to replace Dejan Lovren that summer, that needless slump was ultimately their fault.
Henderson and Fabinho were initially brought in as emergency substitutes, before signing Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies in January 2021. Yet they would salvage their season only to secure a rather unlikely top-four finish once Klopp turned to youngsters Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams.
on the central defender.
There will be no such luxury in reserve for next year as Phillips is expected to follow Williams and Sepp van den Berg. Aside from Henderson and the outgoing Fabinho, Jarell Quansah and Billy Koumetio remain the most senior options left after Klopp’s first-choice foursome. Yet the former has never played competitively for Liverpool’s first team, with the 20-year-old senior’s experience so far limited to a 16-game loan spell at League One Bristol Rovers during the second half of last season.
The England youth international was at least part of Klopp’s first team during pre-season, unlike at Koumetio where the 20-year-old Frenchman was limited to two first-team appearances for the Reds before moving to Austria on loan. , with only 11 appearances last January.
While it’s possible Quansah could do enough in pre-season to create chances in the domestic cup competition and Europa League group stage this season, Liverpool still have a gap to fill and will need to strengthen it further if they do so. A. risk a repeat of the 2020/21 injury crisis.
In an ideal world, they would sign Colwill. However, Chelsea are adamant the 20-year-old is not for sale, while injuries elsewhere mean he will have starting chances at Stamford Bridge this season. Elsewhere, ties with the likes of Micky van de Ven, Goncalo Inacio and Perr Schuurs seem to come and go during the summer months. Whether a new name or concrete move will emerge for any of the aforementioned quartet remains to be seen.
As things stand, with no deal on Lavia and Conor Bradley sidelined with minor injuries, Liverpool face the prospect of starting Chelsea’s season in two weeks’ time with Alexander-Arnold in midfield, Gomez at right-back and either Robertson or Tsimikas. a full-back reversed on the opponent’s wing. As a result, Matip is the only natural central defender in reserve.
Hopefully those restrictions will ease somewhat in the near term over the next couple of weeks, with a successful chase for Lavia at least allowing Alexander-Arnold to get back on the defensive. But that would still leave the Reds with Robertson as an uncomfortable left centre-back when Liverpool are on the ball, and Gomez and Matip as the only back-up options for the seniors.
After the Reds had to focus on further signings in midfield due to Saudi interest in Henderson and Fabinho, it’s perfectly understandable why the Reds had to change their priorities. But that must not come at the expense of a new central defender. Your need for a new defender must not be forgotten.
Liverpool were seriously injured in 2020/21 for failing to sign a centre-back. And while they would have at least recovered to qualify for the Champions League, they didn’t learn their lesson last summer when they failed to strengthen their midfield.
Going into the season with the Europa League awaiting them as a result of that blunder, if the Reds fail to adequately address those defensive deficiencies before the transfer window closes on 1 September, they will open the door for another pointless gamble. which may one day cost him dearly again.
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