Liverpool have been fans of Chelsea defender Levi Colwill in this summer’s transfer window, although he is now set to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge.
The exciting young Englishman looked fantastic during his loan spell at Brighton last season, and Neil Jones says it’s no secret he’s been firmly on Liverpool’s radar this summer, according to his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
Colwill could have been a good signing for Liverpool, with Jones recognizing that the Reds could use a young central defender to eventually replace the two elderly Virgil van Dijk or Joel Matip.
Chelsea fans will be glad they kept Colwill, especially as there was a risk of losing him to six big rivals like Liverpool.
Jones also says someone like Josko Gvardiol could be of interest to LFC, but there aren’t many other options on the market right now. “Liverpool’s links with centre-backs have become a bit quiet and I think in an ideal world they would look into that, but the priority is elsewhere at the moment.” At the start of the window, the priority was with midfielders, and that’s even more the case now with the surprise departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho,” Jones said.
“The search for Romeo Lavia continues even though a deal with Southampton proves difficult and I believe that now overrides the urgency of signing a new centre-back.”
“However, if you look at the state of the defense at the moment, I think you can see that they could do something – although it’s not exactly urgent given the depth that players like Joel Matip and Joe Gomez it’s definitely a way to a long term problem as Matip will be out of contract next summer, Gomez is struggling with both fitness and form and of course Virgil van Dijk is du bad side of 30. I’m a big fan of Ibrahima Konate but he’s had an injury arise so that would be something Liverpool would tackle in an ideal world but that’s not the situation they find themselves in this moment.
“In terms of suitable players, it’s no secret that Liverpool were fond of Levi Colwill, although it now looks like he’ll sign a long-term contract to stay at Chelsea. I think they would have been very fond of that too. someone like Josko Gvardiol in the past but it looks like he is moving to Manchester City so the pool of potential signings has already dwindled I think they should be looking at someone who is 21 or younger who could become the role that Matip would take on his departure and later Van Dijk.
“However, there is no obvious candidate in what appears to be a tough market. Konate was a solid choice a few years ago when one or two others were also considered, while Van Dijk was miles ahead on others when he joined, but now it doesn’t look like an obvious equivalent. I don’t currently see anyone like that that Liverpool could bring.”
