Reputable journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that most players won’t wish to join Liverpool for fear of being replaced by the first-teamers they’re potentially covering for.
With Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez likely out of action for much of the rest of the season, the Reds have been linked to a host of defenders who could fill-in for the meantime.
“A lot of players now don’t want to join Liverpool [and] play 5, 6, 7 matches, then the big ones are coming back from their injuries and then [the new signings] are on the bench for one season or more,” the Italian journalist explained on the Here We Go podcast (via This Is Futbol). “So, at the moment, Liverpool are still with the same idea: ‘We can stay with this team. If we have an opportunity, OK. If we don’t, we stay with this one’.”
This does fall in line with Klopp’s prior reasoning on the matter of bringing in players for cover, with the 53-year-old pointing out that the inevitable return of those sidelined could lead to squad friction.
As far as we at the EOTK are concerned, it would be a massive gamble (to say the least) to go into the second-half of the season without appropriate defensive cover brought in.
That being said, we respect the fact that players may be unwilling to risk their careers as ‘cover’ for the likes of Van Dijk or Gomez, and that Klopp’s philosophy will likely veer him towards the option of relying on the squad – thinly stretched as it is.
Considering the German’s latest comments in his pre-Villa presser, however, the possibility of a winter signing is not totally in the realm of the impossible, should the right man be identified.
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