Liverpool are heading towards their most crucial transfer in years. It's one they absolutely have to get right.Liverpool made a lot of incredibly important transfers just this year. There's a new play...
Liverpool are heading towards their most crucial transfer in years. It's one they absolutely have to get right.
Liverpool made a lot of incredibly important transfers just this year. There's a new playmaker in Florian Wirtz - someone who can hopefully lead the attack for years to come.
Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike represent the future at centre-forward, too. They're hoping to bring consistent quality there.
New full-backs in Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez could hold down those roles for a while. Then there's Giorgi Mamardhasvili - Alisson's hopeful successor.
The Reds spent an incredible amount of money to get all of that done. Over £450m, in fact, as they underwent an unprecedented overhaul of a title-winning squad.
But despite all of that, an even more crucial transfer is on the way. One they absolutely cannot get wrong.
Liverpool's crucial transfer
Centre-back is now becoming a bit of a crisis point for Liverpool. There’s absolutely zero long-term certainty there.
Giovanni Leoni’s injury will keep him out for a year - who knows how he’ll return? Joe Gomez was in line to leave the club in August and would have done if Marc Guehi arrived. There isn’t a long-term future.
Ibrahima Konate is most obvious concern. His contract expires at the end of the season and while we’re hopeful he’ll sign a new one, interest from Real Madrid makes life difficult.
Then we’ve got Virgil van Dijk. Now, we still think he’s the best in the world and wouldn’t swap him for anyone. However, he’s now 34 and will have just one more year on his contract after this one. No one can say with any certainty that he’ll still be the elite leader of this defence in 2027.
Liverpool, then, are in a difficult spot. They need to replace Gomez, pray for Leoni, sort what’s happening with Konate and find a successor for Van Dijk.
It means the next centre-back signing must be near-perfect. He’s got to be able to start regularly and potentially lead the defence, while also offer a reasonably long-term future.
Is Guehi enough? Liverpool certainly want him and he may well be the best possible option there. Though, if Konate leaves, the Reds will surely need to sign someone alongside him.
This club has been fortunate to have Van Dijk leading the defence for as long as he has. His level has been absolutely ridiculous and it means Liverpool haven’t had to really worry too much about centre-back.
That time is now over and replacing the Dutchman, or even just finding a suitable partner for him, is the next major task on the agenda. It’s one that Liverpool must get correct because if they don’t, it risks collapsing how the entire team operates.
It’s the most crucial transfer in years. Arguably since Van Dijk arrived in 2018.
Category: General Sports
