Noel Whelan has suggested that Liverpool could look to join Aston Villa in their pursuit of James Ward-Prowse.
The Reds are thought to be considering potential options to replace PSG-bound midfielder Gini Wijnaldum, despite reports claiming the contrary, with the Southampton star attracting attention with his 15 goal contributions in the league this season.
“We do know that Aston Villa have brought in a lot of midfield players. They’re still looking to bring in more,” the former Leeds forward told Football Insider.
“We did wonder where they’re all going to fit in if they go for Ward-Prowse.
“Then again, Liverpool might fancy Ward-Prowse. He’s that kind of midfield player as well, especially when it comes to set-pieces as well.
“You’ve got to look at delivery, you’ve got to look at everything.
“He’s tenacious in midfield, he’s got that energy about him and is a player that would could probably suit Liverpool as well.”
The Villans’ John McGinn had emerged as a potential transfer target for the Merseysiders, though it would appear that the Birmingham-based outfit’s valuation of the Scottish international is beyond what the side would be prepared to pay.
Though sorting out new contracts for key members of the club’s spine is undoubtedly a priority, we simply cannot afford to dismiss the importance of replacing a player whose durability we fundamentally relied on at times.
In an injury crisis that utterly decimated our squad, ridding Jurgen Klopp of first-choice starters Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez for much of the season, the Dutchman stood firm – a quality that will be missed when we consider out injury-prone backup options.
As such, we refuse to believe that we’ll be heading into another term taking the exact same risk we did last summer when we assumed our centre-back options would be enough to take us through an entire campaign.
The player touted by Whelan, however, would seem beyond the realm of reality as far as Liverpool’s interest goes and is definitely one we’d take with a pinch of salt.
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