Are you talking about Caicedo?
There was a headline on the BBC - Man U want Phillips.
My heart skipped a beat.
I agree we definitely need a cb in January. When I wrote above it was with Matip playing and doing well. As things stand we have VVD, Konate, Gomez and Quansah.
Virg is great but at the stage he canāt do two games a week.
Konate seems to miss a fair few games.
Gomez looks to be more of a back up rb these days.
Quansah is doing well but obviously heās just a young lad.
If we donāt sign a cb in January we are taking a gamble with just having the four above. Arguably you could add Endo as a fifth in a pinch, as I think he has done it, but Iām not sure I want to see that at Liverpool.
Todibo, Lacroix, Inacio, presumably several others we have our eye on too, as Iām no scout. We should be able to sign someone who adds to the group, and who is good enough to stake a claim as a main man for the long term too.
To be fair, even though heās probably about 67 years old by now, Kevin Phillips would still be better than the rest of their striking optionsā¦
We had been in worst situations and yet Klopp did not get swayed and buy for the short term gain.
And while I think itās not great that Matip, our best CB partner for VVD , is out for the season, we do have 3 othe CBs who are at a very good level. We cannot be just buying players just because oh we think they are going to get injured or they are just not good in my opinion. Klopp doesnāt do that, has never done that. He will if there is a too good a deal to miss but not for reasons of a crisis we donāt have.
If a summer target is available there is no reason not to buy a CB in January. It would be madness not to.
Bajcetic is a CB. Atleast he came through the youth teams as a CB. Heās not there in terms of his physical development though. I think Klopp might be looking at him as a CB for next year (going as per his comments)
As far as this year goes.
Quansah / Konate / Virgil / Gomez is light weight this season but if we get in one of Chambers / Bajcetic for the next season, weāll likely be fine.
Iād be much more comfortable with another defender though for the Jan window (despite Klopp being insistent that he doesnāt need) but it will have to be someone on a permanent deal. Even someone like a Klavan instead of the Caulker / Kabak loan deals we had done before.
The con of buying a defender in January is the bedding in time most footballers generally need to get used to Kloppās tactics and weāll be having a defender whoās going to be spending quite a lot of time on the bench. Van Dijk ofcourse is the exception to that rule of not needing time in the system but most defenders are not Van Dijk
Which comments? Bajcetic didnāt play CB for the first team yet. Iād say heās closer to possibly going out on loan than be regarded as part of our 4/5 CB options next season.
Right now, I believe heās still regarded as a midfielder and weāre trying to make him stronger physically, for the tasks needed to play at this level, in whichever position. He might be in a fight to even be here next season.
Chambers from what I know, is more of a natural LB, but at some lower level of football, he could play the LCB role in a back 3 or 4.
What is happening with Quansah is promising, but weāll need more proven quality also, not put so much pressure on kids.
Itāll come down to price. Any player is available in January, you just have to be willing to pay over and above. If weāve identified a CB who can be bought for Ā£50m now or Ā£35m in the summer we aināt buying them
If Baj were fit and playing itās possible his history would allow him to be considered a back up option at CB. He isnāt though, and even if he was I think the switch in his role should be understood as a reflection of his lack of fitness for a CB role in the long term.
I donāt think this is true. There are players on our list that under no circumstances will be available in January. An example is maybe Diego Carlos, someone we apparently have interest in. Letās say heās high on our listā¦.thereās zero chance Villa sell him to us for any amount of money given they are in a title race. They may be perfectly fine selling him come summer though.
Sometimes, there are nice opportunities.
Clubs have their situations and calculations over the whole year, not only in the summer.
Obviously January is more difficult than summer, but itās not impossible to find quality deals from time to time.
Weāve had some good January deals.
Read an article today that links Liverpool with interest in 21 year old german striker Maximilian Beier.
Heās right footed and can also play on either wing. Doing well in the Bundesliga for his team Hoffenheim, 6 goals and 4 assists in 13 league games played.
Interesting stuff because I do believe he has nice potential but I feel our real priority should be for a left sided defender in the Winter transfer window.
If he has a high celiling I hope we get him, especially if he is versatile across the front line.
Sometimes you do deals if the opportunity is there, even if it is not the top priority.
To my mind, a central defender should be the top priority, especially with Matip out, Virg getting on, Konate and Gomez missing their share, and Quansah coming through.
Makes sense of ahead planning for the future.
I know what we need to be honest but if the money is available then why not. I would expect it would be a deal done for the summer anyhow.
Lots of players on the chopping block at Chelsea now for them to raise funds for their new signings - Chalobah (decent but issues with injuries), Gallagher, Maduke. The one that is potentially interesting is their young dutch LB, Maatsen. @Sweeting thoughts on him as a liverpool player? Not good enough? Too attacking a LB to play the role our LB now has to as almost a 3rd CB?
Seems a decent guy as wellā¦ He even takes his dead cat to training with him :0)
Found it funny how during pre-season and a bit during this active season Poch used him as a right winger. Maybe we couldāve tried that with bloody Moreno.
Like, whatās the alternative solution for an offensive left full back? Right wing.
Maatsen is an excellent wing back, very threatening - lots of quality on the ball, front footed defender, certainly should be playing PL football week in and week out but Chelsea have seemingly decided to copy Man City and use their left footed CB at LB instead.
Personally wouldnāt be too concerned about his attacking style, afterall Tsimikas has done OK in that role for us and I donāt think hes the most switched on tactically so if you have the desire and will to do the job Klopp can probably get that into you no issues.
Maatsen needs to leave Chelsea and play regularly, was one of the best players for Burnley last season in their promotion campaign. Canāt see him coming here as Iām sure Chelsea will be asking for a prohibitively large fee.