A fresh report has outlined why Liverpool missed out on one transfer target during the summer despite him being recommended to the club by Jorg Schmadtke.
According to TEAMtalk, the Reds’ sporting director had championed the case of Micky van de Ven, having already overseen the Dutch defender’s move to Wolfsburg in 2021.
The Merseysiders had even spoken to the Bundesliga outfit about the 22-year-old, whose representatives were ‘well aware’ of LFC’s interest in him and willingness to submit an official bid.
However, Tottenham then opened talks with the centre-back, who reportedly had no hesitation in opting for Spurs at that point, with the north Londoners seizing upon Liverpool’s stalling to secure him for £40m in early August.
There may be frustration for Schmadtke and Jurgen Klopp that the Reds were unable to move quickly enough to snap up Van de Ven before Tottenham did, with the defender having made a promising start to life in England.
His first four Premier League games have seen him record a 93.5% passing success rate, a figure surpassed only by Joe Gomez (93.8%) among any player to start for Liverpool so far this season (WhoScored).
The feeling of missing the boat on him is exacerbated by Virgil van Dijk (suspension) and Ibrahima Konate (injury) being unavailable of late, leaving LFC with a sparsity of centre-back options who’ve thankfully stepped up commendably in the last couple of games.
Timing could’ve been a factor in the Reds not going all-out for Van de Ven. At the time that he moved to Spurs, our focus was sharply on adding midfielders to compensate for the unexpected losses of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the Saudi Pro League.
That may have seen defensive recruits slip down the list of priorities, although one could argue that had Liverpool truly wanted the Dutch centre-back, they would’ve made their move for him before Tottenham got the chance.
Whatever the circumstances, that boat has now sailed, so if LFC are to look at adding central defensive options in January, they’ll need to turn their attention towards other targets.
#Ep89 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️
Whatever was the true reason, we may never know. I think we all saw the need to strengthen the defense this time since the beginning, but if it wasn’t done, then it was a dereliction of duty. We pray it doesn’t affect us.