The hunt for fresh defensive reinforcements continues, but we’re already facing familiar problems – and the squad is looking worryingly light.
As reported by Paul Joyce in The Times, our Premier League-winning squad is now down to just two recognised senior centre-backs, with Joe Gomez returning to Merseyside carrying an achilles injury.
That leaves only Virgil van Dijk and Ibou Konate as fit, established options – a fragile situation after Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer for an initial £30 million.
Liverpool are very light at the heart of our defence
Joyce explained that we’ve already failed in bids for three different centre-backs – Leny Yoro, Levi Colwill and Dean Huijsen – over the past three successive summers.
There’s admiration for Marc Guehi, who helped Crystal Palace win the FA Cup last season and is now into the final year of his contract, but the suggestion is we’ll walk away if a transfer saga develops, rather than overpay or be held to ransom.
“They like Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi… but are unlikely to be drawn into a saga over the England international,” Joyce wrote.
That could open the door for other clubs to swoop in – just as Real Madrid have done with Huijsen.
Guehi may price himself out of a move to Liverpool
This update adds further weight to Arne Slot’s desire to reshape the defence, especially after the sales of Quansah and Nat Phillips, while Gomez’s setback only highlights how short we are for a long season ahead.
The need for recruitment is obvious. The club has been scouting young centre halves across Europe, which could point back to interest in other emerging names, with the right balance of age, resale value and profile.
Liverpool have already let Trent Alexander-Arnold go to Madrid and sanctioned multiple exits at the back – but unless a deal is struck soon, we could be forced to rely too heavily on just two centre-backs once again.
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We need defenders very quickly. Two to be specific. But they djojkd be people who can play right away. Konate’s situation is not clear and injuries wilm definitely happen.
Let me simplify this for LFC….defenders currently at ther disposal are Guehi, Diomande, Hato, Kuleba and Konsa. Take your pick, we need 3 in my esteem, but 2 will do immediately!! Leoni is gone to inter Milan.
Hato we should secured now for the future or like Isak, we will pay more for him in the future. If we buy him and Diomande, whom I like and see as a long term replacement for Endo to anchor the bottom of the midfield with Greyvenberch in the future, and secure Guehi in the January window as he winds down his contract, I’d consider that very smart business. If there is change from the sale of Chiesa, Tsimikas, Elliot, Morton and other sale targets, I’d include Konsa!
The Nunez sale will help in the Isak purchase, and if Konate is sold this season, then Guehi has to be secured now as his experience counts for a lot.
There is some inexplicable logic at LFC transfers. Aim to buy forwards costing a lot but reluctant to buy a Central Defender at half the price of those forwards. May it’s an experiment and new football philosophy to play with only. We will pretend to be shocked when teams score many goals against us and we win nothing. What was the logic of selling Quansah