Liverpool have been urged to sign former player Conor Coady by club legend Mark Lawrenson to help ease the sting of losing Virgil van Dijk for many months.
The Dutchman is likely to miss the remainder of the season after picking up a nasty ACL injury, during the Merseyside Derby, which needs to be operated on.
Coady left Liverpool in 2014 after working his way through the Academy from the age of eight and has since established himself as a crucial player for Wolves.
Lawrenson believes the champions should intervene and bring the local lad back home. “I would think Virgil will be out for the season,” the former defender told The Argus.
“I think it’s a write-off because you’ve got to get match fit and that’s almost impossible nowadays because they don’t play reserve team football.
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“If Liverpool are going to pay big money for somebody in January, they want absolutely ready-made.
“Conor Coady has had loads of shouts and he is a very good organiser who has played lots of games in the Premier League.”
We at Empire of the Kop recognise just how much Coady has improved since leaving Anfield over five years ago, but Liverpool shouldn’t make a move for him.
The 27-year-old has established himself at Wolves and earned the trust from the club to be given the captain’s armband, and we shouldn’t spoil that for him.
He’s an Academy graduate and we should want the best for his career – plucking Coady in his prime from a club that values him does him no favours in the long run.
Not to mention his typical playing style at Wolves being in a back three, which is wildly different from the Reds’ very energetic high-line. It’s unclear where he’d even fit in.
The Reds need to be looking at more youthful targets, and reports suggest Schalke’s Ozan Kabak could be the man for the job.