Sheffield United defender Jack O’Connell is desperate to one day play for Liverpool, he’s told the press in no uncertain terms.
The 25-year-old was a key player for the Blades in the Championship last term – and he’ll be a starter in the Premier League as a result.
O’Connell has claimed to be a massive Red and admits if we ever cam knocking, he’d jump at the opportunity.
“All my family are Liverpool fans so we couldn’t wait to find out when we played Liverpool and to face them on New Year’s Day will be a special moment for me and my family,” he told Goal.
“I’m a massive Liverpool fan and went to the Champions League final in Madrid – but couldn’t really enjoy the game because I ended up analysing them as opposition next season.
“I’m guessing staying up is the main priority [for Sheffield United] but seeing Jordan Henderson lift the trophy gave me goosebumps, and I’d love it to be me one day.
“Obviously I am happy at Sheffield United. I’ve just signed a new contract and I’ve never thought about leaving, but my dream as a kid was to play for Liverpool and if they ever come knocking, although unlikely, it would be hard to turn them down.”
While we always want players at Liverpool who want to be here, we’re not sure there’s a space for O’Connell just yet!
The centre-back is not yet better than any of our current four players in that position – and we can’t see Liverpool offloading any of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip or Dejan Lovren.
Instead, Jurgen Klopp’s dilemma will be which centre-back to go with alongside van Dijk at the beginning of the season – because once he picks a partnership – he’s shown he’ll stick to it until injury forces his hand.
We’d like to see Gomez back in the team, but can understand completely that Matip deserves the spot just as much – having shone on our way to Champions League glory.
Lovren looks like fourth choice right now, but a summer of friendlies, in which Klopp will assess his players once again, could change this.