Liverpool are currently undergoing a renovation of sorts especially in that midfield already with Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, James Milner and Arthur Melo leaving the club, it was always a known factor that Liverpool was going to sign a bunch of midfielders. That complemented by acquiring the services of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the problem of midfield depth isn’t solved at Anfield just yet.
With Fabinho destined to leave for the Saudi club and Henderson also set to follow similar paths, Liverpool find themselves in yet another conundrum.
Romeo Lavia is a name that has popped up many times in the Liverpool camp. Talks have been ongoing but Liverpool are very adamant about not spending more than 40 million, trying to drive the price down as much as they can. With Caicedo and Tchouameni looking unlikely to happen, The Reds from Merseyside need to look for other alternatives in case the deal with Lavia falls through.
Shuffling the Pack: Liverpool’s Midfield Exodus and the Need for Reinforcement
There were some rumours about a Fluminese player Andre but it was quickly denied by tier 1 sources. One player who has been linked is Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis who has been seen liking posts mentioning Liverpool and even following the club on Instagram. A defensive midfielder who would come at a cheaper price than Lavia. The Portuguese also has more pass accuracy and more tackles made than the current Southampton midfielder – but we also have to consider Lavia played in the Premier League and at the bottom end of things.
After a brilliant World Cup, Soyfan Amrabat is also a name that is being linked, considering his leadership skills Liverpool might make a move for the Moroccan international in case Jordan Henderson leaves but this deal also looks unlikely, especially with Manchester United going in for him pretty aggressively as well at the time of writing.
Other players that have been linked are Bayern’s Ryan Gravenberch and Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips. Both of these rumours mainly stem from the fact that both the player even though possessing immense quality got very limited game time last season. But a move to Liverpool for either of these players is very tough although you can get Bayern to sell Ryan Gravenberch to fund their pursuit of Harry Kane, who has far from impressed since moving to Germany and City won’t be selling to their title rivals.
Khéphren Thuram has also been one name that has popped up as he was very closely linked with Liverpool at the beginning of the season. The potential signing of Szoboszlai cooled off the interests but now with Liverpool facing a potential lack of depth in the midfield they may reignite their interest in Thuram.
Manu Kone was also another name that was heavily linked during the initial days of the transfer window but with him picking up an injury on under-21 international duty and being reportedly out for 2-3 months, Liverpool started to look on for other options then.
DENOUNCEMENT
Liverpool needs to take action fast as Arsenal are also trying to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton and with rumours about Thomas Partey leaving – they’d be looking for a quality replacement for the Ghanian.
Taking into account the long-serving midfield duo leaves, Buying Thuram and Lavia would be the perfect choice. Lavia is young but with the right guidance can become one of the best number 6’s in the premier league, Thuram, on the other hand, is a similar kind of player to Henderson as sometimes he also drops down in the defensive mid position when the wing-backs are high up the field. In comparison to his French teammate Emmanuel “Manu” Koné, Thuram has a higher xG, pass completion rate, successful challenge rate and also a higher pass completion rate making him the more favourable choice to replace the departing Liverpool captain.
