Transfer insider Dean Jones has claimed that Liverpool are likely to miss out on one defender who’d reportedly been in their sights in recent weeks.
According to Pete O’Rourke for Football Insider last month, the Reds had been preparing a contract offer for Eintracht Frankfurt centre-back Evan Ndicka, whose contract with the 2022 Europa League winners expires next month.
However, another trusted journalist feels the 23-year-old will probably be plying his trade in Serie A rather than the Premier League next season.
Jones told GIVEMESPORT: “Liverpool have been linked with Evan Ndicka as a potential solution to helping their defensive depth for next season, but it seems Napoli is a more likely destination.
“It’s an interesting one because the profile of the player seems a good fit, but over the past couple of weeks I have struggled to find anyone that believes it is going to be a deal Liverpool push for.
“And now in Italy, there seems to be confidence that Napoli are looking at him and are putting themselves in a good position to make a proposal. So it feels like we can probably scratch him off the list.”
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If indeed Liverpool look set to end their reported pursuit of Ndicka, it’d be a shame, as the Frenchman appeared to be an ideal centre-back for the Reds to target.
Aside from the obvious attraction of being able to get him on a free transfer, the Eintracht Frankfurt man is a master of some core aspects of defending, averaging 2.6 successful aerial duels and 4.8 clearances per game in the current Bundesliga campaign (WhoScored).
Only two Reds players have a better rate for the former metric, while nobody at Anfield can match him for the latter (WhoScored).
Also, as we explored previously on Empire of the Kop, he’d have been a cut-price alternative to another Liverpool-linked defender in Josko Gvardiol, whose performance figures mirror those of Ndicka in many respects but who could’ve cost £80m from RB Leipzig (Football Insider).
This has the making of a potential bargain that FSG have let slip through their fingers, but from Jones’ update, it now seems as if LFC must turn their attention towards other possible centre-back reinforcements instead.