After a busy summer for Liverpool that saw many high-profile ins and outs, the midfield was undoubtedly the main area of concern. After a seemingly successful rebuild in the middle of the park, many people believe that the focus should now switch to the defence.
With Joel Matip rupturing his ACL last month, Van Dijk in his early thirties, and Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez both with a checkered injury history, the time to dip into the market for a young defender might be around the corner.
Still in all four competitions and brief glimpses of quadruple talk popping up here and there, sufficient squad depth is going to be vital to ensure Liverpool can maintain to push on all fronts, with another defender potentially the next piece of the puzzle.
On our Transfer Insight show this week, Daily Mail Merseyside football reporter, Lewis Steele, gave us his thoughts on whether targeting a centre-back is the next step for Liverpool in the transfer market.
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Is targeting a centre-back the next step for Liverpool?
“That’s what all the noise seems to suggest. I do think it is very unlikely anything will happen in January. The only thing that would change that is if Konate, or any of the three centre-backs, got injured.
“I think they’re still at the very early stages of planning in that department. I always find it surprising how excited fans get when you say a club is scouting a player because these clubs are generally scouting hundreds of players a season and that’s when they’ll rattle it down. They’ll have scouts all over Europe, all over South America as well.
“There are a few names that keep getting mentioned around football, with Inacio seeming to be the one that’s most mentioned. I don’t think that necessarily means he’s the most likely to sign because this is very much in the early stages of planning. And there will probably be a name that none of us have heard yet that will come to the fore.
“I think another one that has been mentioned, and this might just be because he’s ready to step up, is Guehi at Palace. He’s one of those where I think his agents are thinking that he’s playing for England, he’s one of Palace’s best players and probably ready to step up to a bigger club. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be Liverpool but I’m sure they’ll keep tabs on him.
“He also plays on that left side which is interesting. Inacio is left-footed as well and I think they could look for a left-footed defender because with Trent wandering into midfield, we see Robertson having to tuck into a back three in possession. So, it would be really beneficial to have a left-footed centre-back that could come out to the wider areas.”
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Redmen Reacts
The odds of Liverpool dipping into the transfer market this month being low is no surprise to anyone. Since Klopp took over, the Reds have never really signed players for the sake of it, bar a few names here and there. So, to bring in an Inacio or a Guehi in January, when the likes of Konate, Gomez and Quansah have all been performing so well wouldn’t be a typical Liverpool move. Going after a centre half in the summer seems to be the more likely option.
Regarding Inacio, who has been described as a ‘progression monster’ by football writer Pranav, he is quickly developing into one of the most exciting young defenders in Europe. With fantastic ability on the ball the drive the team forward, similar to Joel Matip’s carving runs, and providing versatility and depth as a left-footed option. With a release clause of around £52million, it’d be a huge surprise if the Reds weren’t to make some sort of move for him in the summer as Klopp’s side continues to evolve.
