Liverpool were expected to be Manchester City’s closest rivals again last season, but things didn’t necessarily go to plan. After an up-and-down campaign, a late push saw Jurgen Klopp guide the Reds to 5th, but now the challenge is on to rebuild and become a top-four outfit and title challenges once again. And they’ve made a great start.
There were some concerns that the rebuild would arguably be too big to complete or make significant progress in one fell swoop, with the midfield the critical area and the overall age of the squad. And while many were already tipping Liverpool to be better than they were in the Premier League in 2022/23, with a chance to return to the top four at least, the Premier League betting odds of that happening continue to shorten dramatically.
As mentioned above, central midfield was an area of concern and required a lot of work this summer. As expected, out went Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on free transfers, with Arthur Melo’s loan coming to an end too. Instantly, money was banked on wages, freeing them up for incomings, and the squad’s average age naturally dropped slightly.
However, the Saudi Pro League also came calling, and they signed both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, aged 33 and 29, respectively, and likely on fair wages, for good and unexpected transfer fees. After already signing Brighton’s world cup winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, a twenty-four-year-old, for around forty million, Liverpool have also brought in twenty-two-year-old Dominik Szoboszlai from Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.
Those two arrivals alone would have gone a long way towards moving Liverpool’s central midfield department in the right direction, but after the sales of skipper Henderson and defensive midfielder Fabinho, it now looks likely they will be successful in their pursuit of Southampton’s Romeo Lavia for around fifty million. The Saints were relegated to the second tier last season, but Lavia stood out after making the switch to St Mary’s from Man City, and a whole raft of clubs have shown an interest.
In the first instance, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Lavia are all high-quality central midfielders, so there will be no doubts about their ability to help Liverpool mount a top-four comeback at least, especially Mac Allister and Lavia, who have both excelled recently in the Premier League. But them being aged 24, 22 and 19 respectively is also a significant boost and one that shouldn’t be overlooked.
They could also be joined by Fluminense defensive midfielder Andre, who would also fit the new-look midfield as the Brazilian is only twenty-two. If they get the deal over the line, that wraps up the central midfield rebuild at Anfield. In that case, Klopp will have revamped the department entirely in a matter of weeks and given the Reds a midfield for decades that will have the energy and quality to compete against the best on all fronts moving forward.
