David Abraham wants to end his career in January to go back to Argentine after having played in Europe for 15 years.
Would prefer him over Garay.
Think he would wait with his retirement for 6 months if he gets the chance to join us.
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Announce Reus
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Alan Hansen always struck me as a natural athlete. Even after he hung his boots up he stayed trim as you like.
Come on Jockey lad, we need you for a short term assignment!
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I posted an interesting article about Fofana a few weeks before he moved to Leicester. About how transfers affect the players families and why he wanted to come to England now. He’s a very candid and heady sort and didn’t want to wait an entire year for a move to England, for multiple reasons. And with his talent, and his own belief in his talent, I applaud his decision. He’s a very likable lad.
EDIT: if it’s true LFC did ask him to wait a year, we have other young talents in that target list.
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Nat and Rhys showed they can cope against most of our opponents in the last few weeks but just a matter of time before some strikers give them nightmare games.
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Playing Gini or Hendo as CB might work for one or two games but especially in the PL some strikers will be physically too much for them.
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No way Matip and Fabinho will be injury free until the end of the season but in terms of quality I trust them to pocket the best strikers in the world.
I believe the idea will be to bring in someone to give them a rest from time to time - even in big games.
I think it’s going to be Kabak because it seems he was on our shortlist anyway. Price will be relatively ok.
When I think think about Kabak I try not to judge him on his Schalke time because that club is in a total mess.
At Stuttgart he played like 26 year old with huge potential.
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Looking at the “top” CBs in the world, for the idea of “going big” on one it’s clear in my opinion that what goes into assessing CBs isn’t compatible with what Klopp needs.
I mean don’t get me wrong CBs who are fancy with their feet, great at reading the game, intelligent at knowing when and when not to tackle and being good at it when they do are all great traits that are right to be respected and valued.
But Virgil is one of the only top CBs who is actually good in the air too. It’s like it’s not even a consideration when the consensus of who are good CBs is being formed.
I’m starting to think whatever CB we pick up may not be quite so obvious/expensive. Maybe not quite at a level of say David Carmo or Sven Botman out of nowhere. But maybe little middle of the road types that still make people think “why him…” such as Kristoffer Ajer, Duja Caleta-Car or (whispers so as not to draw attention) Johnathan Tah.
Think there may end up being a signing that seems a bit left field and people might peg it as a Klavan style cover brought in because of our emergency situation. But I think it’ll be a player who has the highly specific blue print a CB for us needs. They’ll then end up being fantastic for us. Think Neven Subotic during Klopps time at Dortmund.
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So we cannot sign another homegrown player due to be at our limit. Looking through our options I’m not seeing a great deal of ‘acceptable’ talent out their under a decent price and that is homegrown.
But we can sell a foreign lad to make room for another. If this occurs most likely out would be Origi? Have enough cover (famous last words) and he isn’t playing enough to be proper considered by Jürgen, especially with the emergence of Jota.
Here our my ‘solutions’ our gaping hole at centre half now.
David Alaba - David Alaba’s contract situation is well-known, with Bayern Munich not intending to extend the 29-year-old’s deal beyond the end of the current season.
Recent reports suggest they won’t allow him to leave in January, but if Bayern are running away with the title and Liverpool make a solid enough offer, they might have a change of heart by the time new year comes around.
And there’s no question Alaba would be a phenomenal addition to what Liverpool already have. This is a player who has operated as a winger, a central midfielder, a full-back and a central defender throughout his career and excelled in practically every capacity. Only issue is a wage of around 200k, and an injury prone player at times. But a talented , versatile option.
Ozan Kabak - The Turkey international is just 20 but has plenty of first-team experience under him and has already been on Liverpool’s radar.
He’s a good size, commanding in the air but has plenty of room for improvement. He will be cheap, not much wage. But largely inexperienced and spat on a lad last month which does show him in a great light personality wise
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Tbh, and being rather blunt about it, we won’t have a problem with the limit on players come January because Virgil isn’t playing again this season. I imagine that the club will unregister him, freeing up space in the PL and CL squad lists. They could do the same with Gomez depending on how bad his prognosis is.
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Konate seems perfect but makes Matip look reliable when it comes to availability. He’d cost big and could be as bad or worse than Matip and Lovren when it comes to injuries.
Fofana unfortunately isn’t leaving so soon.
Romagnoli isn’t a bad shout in my opinion (although not as dominant in the air as I’d like) and I’ve suggested him as an option in the past too.
You’ve also suggested Bastoni before who I’d forgotten in my post but might be a good shout. No idea how much he would cost?
Lovato I know bugger all about sorry but love the name. Will watch out for him.
As to @Euphoria suggestions I like Alaba as a suggestion for a Milner style multifunctional, senior, experienced winner to come in if Milner leaves but think he’d be a disaster at CB for us as he really isn’t great in the air. Gomez is ok in the air, not bad but not great either. But due to our tactics and style of play it comes close to exposing him and is a weakness in his game. CBs who aren’t as good as him in the air are really not going to cope and any one we buy should, in my opinion, be better than him in the air.
Kabak has been linked a lot and he’s not awful in the air, I’m just not 100% convinced.
If we were to go home grown I think the only realistic options would be Tarkowski or Mings. Would prefer Mings out of the two but both would cost more than they are worth. In fact just thinking of how much Villa would charge for Mings makes me shudder and not sure he’d ever be worth it even if he did work out.
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Even Harry Maguire?
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See above 
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If Gomez is so bad in the air that we have to sign yet another giant along with Matip, Van Dijk, Williams and Phillips just to cover for him, it begs the question as to why we’d carry on with him at all?
I think calling it a ‘disaster waiting to happen’ to have two defenders like Gomez is a bit much, though it’s not ideal. The likes of Lovren and Otamendi prove that aerial ability is not the number 1 attribute defenders who play for us or City. Suggesting mediocre defenders who happen to be tall is probably not the way forward.
Regardless, why bother signing anyone at all? Van Den Berg, Koumetio, Clayton and Quansah are all oversized children, one of them can do the role of token beanpole.
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To be fair I do not think anyone or ARD is saying we need to sign someone just for the sake of being good in air. I believe he has explained it before that being good in air is probably one of the strengths that is important amongst other things because VVD is good in those areas and we are seeking a replacement this season for him.
And of course I think there is also no need to over-emphasise the strong in air quality because I believe the main strength of VVD is the anticipation factor, getting into the right positions and that is the reason why he never had to hurry into a tackle. VVD, despite his greatness, is not a perfect CB. So I do not think we will find a perfect replacement for him too. I guess we know the qualities needed but I guess Klopp will look at what is absolutely vital and what is preferred.
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Vestergaard is the option we’re looking for if it’s a big boy you want. He has been excellent for Southampton this year, followed in Van Dijk’s footsteps and is taller than any of the players listed here so far.
Surprised he hasn’t been mentioned yet.
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Boateng of Bayern München is out of his contract this summer. Perhaps München can be persuaded to sell him in January, we give him a contract for a year and a half since he is 32 years old.
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I’ve said before by the way that height isn’t the only factor that makes someone good in the air. Just for the record like as my point seems to get incorrectly referred to constantly.
We need a CB who has a good success rate at both ground duels and aerial duels. Who is good or at least competent and confident with the ball at his feet. He needs to be reasonably quick and physically tough enough to withstand playing in our league.
That’s my opinion of the blue print required. The fitness and conditioning guys can work on mobility/athleticism. Klopp and Pep can work on tactical instruction and match reading.
It would be beneficial if the player can be a leader/organiser at the back but not a deal breaker as there are others around who do this for us.
This is all only my opinion obviously. But many “good” CBs do not hit all of those considerations so I wouldn’t want to see them be purchased. I also think a CB that may not seem all that impressive that does meet those requirements will look amazing under Klopp. Yet again all just opinion.
Gomez is already here and fantastic at nearly everything Klopp could want his CBs to be good at so there is noway you would let such a talented and still very young player who is passionate about the club go. But it’s dishonest to consider him as anything other than adequate in the air and ignore the fact this is sometimes targeted. Especially when he isn’t partnered by VvD or someone fantastic in the air to compensate.
I don’t believe it makes sense to go out and spend major money (or in Alabas case pay massive wages) for a player brought in to play in CB that has the same issues in their game. It would mean opening us up to a vulnerability when we don’t have to do so.
We will have to wait and see who we target/purchase but my prediction is some will be disappointed/surprised. But it’ll all work out.
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Not sure if you’re joking! I guess not in this case.
But nah, he may be really good in a few aspects, but as a package I don’t think he’s good enough. In fact, I think that CB area is where Southampton needs some improvement.
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If we’re talking about Tah and Mings, why not?
Could ask for Bednarek whilst we’re there.
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I’m not in form since this morning. 
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