Sports
Liverpool have held talks ‘this week’ to seal a Van Dijk-like signing
Liverpool are waiting for this nightmare to end, rediscovering the form of last season under Arne Slot‘s wing that led to the Premier League title and a summer of sweeping changes.
The signings made this summer were completed after meticulous research, but, nonetheless, the Reds have been dismal this year, lacking identity and inspiration. Even in victory have Liverpool given their opponents plenty of optimism.
It’s worth noting that Liverpool were far better defensively than has so often been the case this term, but this has done little to calm the anxieties of supporters who have been forced to accept a bleak new norm.
Among the bitter pills swallowed has been the form of captain Virgil van Dijk, the centre-back very much at the core of Liverpool’s problems this season and lacking solutions so often provided across his illustrious career at the club.
Virgil van Dijk’s drop-off this season
Liverpool’s monster has been made mortal by the tailspin of Slot’s system this season. Ibrahima Konate‘s struggles have no doubt been exacerbated by the slow recession of Van Dijk’s indomitability.
He is 34 years old, 35 at the end of the season. It is only natural that the Netherlands skipper should begin to wind down. However, it presents Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes with quite the conundrum as Konate edges toward the expiry of his £70k-per-week contract.
Liverpool signed Giovanni Leoni from Parma for about £27m this summer, but the 18-year-old Italian tore his ACL on his debut against Southampton and is not expected back until the start of next season.
The Italian would have offered a much-needed dimension over the past few months, allowing Slot to enforce more rotation, with Konate having started each of his side’s Premier League fixtures this season despite his rut. Van Dijk is now foundering beside him.
Change is needed, and with the winter transfer window approaching, it’s clear that Liverpool need a centre-back.
Liverpool targeting centre-back this January
As per TEAMtalk, Liverpool are set to table a bid for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi this winter, having reopened direct communications this week with the player’s agents after fumbling a deal to sign him in August.
Guehi is out of contract at Selhurst Park at the end of the season, and while Liverpool had a clean shot at the 25-year-old at the start of the season, notably even agreeing personal terms with the player, rival interest is now sure to be thick, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid considered suitors.
Sources suggest FSG are willing to offer around £25m for Guehi’s signature in January, paying something of a premium for one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.
What Guehi would bring to Liverpool
Guehi could well be plying his craft for Liverpool right now, but it wasn’t to be as sporting director Richard Hughes gambled and left it late, Palace barring the door at the eleventh hour after failing to find a replacement.
It’s a real shame. Guehi is a seasoned Premier League star who just keeps on evolving. He has been hailed as a “monster in defence” by Palace reporter Bobby Manzi, but he is so much more.
As per data-driven site FBref, Guehi ranks among the top 7% of central defenders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for through balls, the top 6% for assists and shot-creating actions, and the top 15% for tackles won per 90.
Shot-creating actions are pieces of play that lead to a shot. These include moments such as a pass, take-on or foul being drawn.
If Liverpool succeed in completing a deal for the two-footed centre-half this winter, it could carry the weight of that one-time signing of Van Dijk, who joined from Southampton midway through the 2017/18 season for a £75m fee.
Van Dijk needs no introduction. He is one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history, a titan of the game.
He dovetailed into Jurgen Klopp’s exciting team and reinforced it with steel. He was the mortar which filled in the cracks and created a superteam.
Big boots to fill, but Guehi has been extensively profiled and could emulate the Netherlands man by arriving at the season’s midpoint, providing that dearly desired relief.
After such incredible success in recent years, it is staggering that Liverpool have plummeted so far beneath their expected level. This borders on a crisis, and one signing won’t stop the rot for good, but Guehi has the combative, confident defensive style to help put the Reds back on track, with his quality in the build-up something that Konate simply doesn’t possess.
It’s Van Dijk-esque, and given that Guehi would be arriving in January after previous attempts to sign him, this could have the much-needed echoes of that euphoric deal.
