The hole in Jurgen Klopp's midfield would be widened by the departure of two key, experienced players. Matt Ladson of This Is Anfield looks for answers
(Image credit: Future / Getty)
Liverpool’s pre-season was thrown into chaos in the 48 hours before the squad flew to Germany for their pre-season training camp.
Jurgen Klopp, having signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in time for the first days of pre-season, thought his squad was fairly set and ready to be reinvigorated.
The manager oversaw big changes to the planned schedule of pre-season, drastically changing the approach after last summer’s rather shambolic pre-season that ultimately set the wheels in motion for the Reds’ worst season under his management.
But the news of Saudi Arabian clubs looking to acquire both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho was not expected or welcome.
For all Henderson’s critics, Klopp does not want to lose his club captain, especially having already seen vice-captain James Milner depart at the end of his contract - Klopp had wanted to keep the 37-year-old and now how he will wish that had happened even more.
The potential departure of Fabinho to Al-Attihad, plus the potential exit of Henderson to Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq, leaves Klopp with plenty to ponder.
How do you replace Fabinho?
Fabinho was Liverpool’s second-most used player last season, despite some pretty woeful form in the holding midfield role.
But Klopp believed that the change in system, plus a proper pre-season to work with the squad, would be able to rejuvenate the 29-year-old. Links to Romeo Lavia persisted before Fabinho’s departure, but the teenager wasn’t going to walk in and immediately replace Fabinho in the No.6 role but be more of a long-term successor.
Now, Lavia remains an option but Liverpool need somebody more experienced, a more finished product to step in immediately.
And quite how they afford that, with the £40 million expected from any Fabinho sale not enough to acquire any of Europe’s top midfielders - see the prices for the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Moises Caicedo for that one.
Even Fulham’s Joao Palhinha, who Liverpool have considered, has an asking price of more than double what Fabinho could be sold for.
The reported ‘list’ of four midfielders - Lavia, Kalvin Phillips, Ryan Gravenberch and Sofyan Amrabat - makes very little sense and seems more like somebody threw darts at a board to generate names. Gravenberch isn’t remotely a defensive midfielder for starters.
(Image credit: Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Do you get one top midfielder, or get two of lower quality or potential?
If indeed Henderson and Fabinho head out the door (making it five senior midfielders to depart this summer) Klopp and Liverpool need to decide just how many new midfielders they’re going to bring in.
Talk in terms of basic numbers is, to be frank, nonsense, given that Naby Keita existed more on the treatment table than the pitch, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain barely played in midfield, if at all, last season. Milner’s minutes were minimal in midfield too.
With Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Thiago (although there’s doubts there too!) Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic, Liverpool still have midfielders.
But there’s a real lack of experienced, proven quality. Thiago is 32, the next oldest is Mac Allister at age 24. There are no midfielders in their ‘prime’ years.
So that’s where the big question comes in. Signing 19-year-old Lavia and another young midfielder doesn’t exactly solve the short-term issue.
So do you go for an older, more short-term solution alongside Lavia, or push for an experienced, proven player who is both a short-term solution and a long-term part of the plan? Such a player would cost a lot.
What are the options?
This is the summer of the midfield merry-go-round, with Rice to Arsenal, Kovavic to Man City, Mount to Man United and Chelsea’s pursuit of Caicedo. But the options for Liverpool are both slim and narrowing.
Benfica’s Florentino Luis has been scouted, and could well fit the mould at age 23 and with Champions League experience - but his release clause is £103m and Benfica will want Fernandez-like money for him.
Aurelien Tchouameni turned Liverpool down in favour of Real Madrid last summer and is not an option now, despite his decreasing playing time for the Spaniards.
Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure has emerged as a surprise candidate, but he has the Premier League experience Liverpool would want and should cost significantly less than other big names in Europe.
Manu Kone was heavily linked earlier in the summer, but that has since gone cold. He’s 22 and has European experience, but he’s not the proven high-quality option. His reported fee, around £35 million, makes him a favourable option though. Could you sign him and Lavia and see what happens?
Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich is claimed to be available. At age 28 he has the experience that’s for sure. Arguably, signing him and Lavia sorts the short, medium and long term.
(Image credit: Getty)
How do you implement the new signing tactically?
Klopp is a big fan of training. ‘Training is our transfer’ his assistant Pepijn Lijnders has said.
The Liverpool manager would have been extremely keen to get his new-look midfield together for the pre-season training camp in Germany in particular, then the tour to Singapore later in July.
The potential for a new midfielder arriving once the season has already started is not one Klopp would be keen on.
But with the transfer window open up until the end of August and three league games before then, Klopp could need a makeshift solution until a new signing is added.
Then, implementing them tactically will not be how the boss would’ve wanted or planned, especially given Liverpool’s likely continuation with the hybrid 4-3-3/3-4-3 system with Trent Alexander-Arnold moving into midfield.
All in, it’s a mess of a situation and right know it’s anyone’s guess who lines up as the holding midfielder for Liverpool in their opening game at Chelsea in three weeks time.
Matt Ladson is the co-founder and editor of This Is Anfield, the independent Liverpool news and comment website, and covers all areas of the Reds for FourFourTwo – including transfer analysis, interviews, title wins and European trophies. As well as writing about Liverpool for FourFourTwo he also contributes to other titles including Yahoo and Bleacher Report. He is a lifelong fan of the Reds.
