Paul Robinson has warned Liverpool against signing another injury-prone midfielder in N’Golo Kante in the summer.
The Frenchman’s contract is due to expire in the summer, though the now pundit suspects that links (Nacional, via Football 365) to the Reds may be the product of ‘agent talk’.
“They already have one injury-prone midfielder in Naby Keita. You cannot take on a player like Kante given his injury record. Yes, he is a free agent but he will demand a lot in wages,” the former England No.1 told Football Insider.
“I suspect there is a lot of agent talk in this one. The player is coming to the end of his contract and is not playing week in, week out so his agent will be putting the feelers out.
“There is a whole lot of change going on at Chelsea. A lot of players have come in. Kante probably is going to leave at the end of the season but I question as to whether Liverpool should go for him.
“He is coming towards the end of his career and has injury problems. Liverpool do not need to be signing that kind of player. It would be no more than a stop-gap.”
The Merseysiders are thought to hold both Jude Bellingham and Wolves’ Matheus Nunes in their sights ahead of the summer window.
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There’s no question that, in his heyday, the former Leicester City star – once described as a ‘beast’ by old teammate Timo Werner (as relayed by the Metro) – would have been a phenomenal addition to this Liverpool squad.
At a time when we’re trying to lower the average age of the squad and bring in more durable options for the long-term, however, Kante just simply isn’t the right fit for what this squad needs.
Both Bellingham (19) and Nunes (24) fit the profile instantly as far as age is concerned, though we could ideally do with an option between the 26-28 range in the holding midfield role – someone who can help protect Stefan Bajcetic’s development at Anfield without totally cutting off his path into the first-team.
If we’ve learned from our past mistakes, we’ll put our faith in options capable of spending more time on the pitch than in the injury room.
With a big summer of spending on the way, of course, we certainly wouldn’t turn down a more suitable free option, or a player on an expiring contract, if a sound fit comes to light.
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No no N’golo kante even if his wages is the lowest ,Chelsea would have offered him new contract instead they let him go for free says a lot.not worth the risk.we begin to sign player in their last leg why?the speed LFC play will be too much for Kante &injury will follow .One player to have a lucky escape from.