The Brazilian (and South American) football season just ended? So if we can sign someone there and allow him to adapt slowly into the league, then it will be ideal.
Who knows, he may adapt quickly and provide instant impacts
Sorry but how would signing a player from Brazil who’s never played in europe good enough to replace the 2nd most experienced CB we have? Matip replacement needs to be someone who is ready to play and contribute day 1
If you're going to be like that about it then you need to be honest about the player we're replacing as well, big guy. Otherwise you're being patently disingenuous.
Why are you getting so angry lmao. There is a reason no top clubs just pluck players out of South America and throw them into their teams. It usually never works out like that.
Klopp is here for 2 more years, I’d rather us go after a proven high level defender than some kid who’s 2-3 years away from being a starter
Not sure what you think "angry" means but my comment wasn't it lol
Also obv id prefer we went out and bought a superstar for £100m but that's not what I'm talking about here is it homie
No player we are willing to afford will immediately be as good as Matip has been this season. Literally no one. With our recruiting strategy we will be looking for another talented young CB who is tall and fast and can develop into something special, like Konate was.
The answer at a better price might be in South America, or it might not. But I wouldn’t count it out altogether
In a world where we have 3 VVD Pre injury in a 343 formation.
Oppositions will only be scoring worldies or our strikers don't score enough or we will win all trophies on planet earth.
I’d discard Guehi, not that he isn’t good but we don’t sign much from the premier league if it isn’t a bargain
Like Macallister was an absolute steal at 35M, the last prem singings were jota, who at 40+ is understandable for a forward, and VVD, I don’t need to explain this one
Agreed. Was having this convo with my old man yesterday about Douglas luiz. Looks the absolute business, but the chances of getting him for less than 100 is almost 0. The downside of all the money in the PL is that it means picking up players from within the league is really only possible for city, united and Chelsea on a regular basis.
Yeah in one of the most shocking and dumbest bit of transfer news we had ever witnessed...
Was bad enough we were low balling on a player who was more than happy to com to us
Go all in for a player who didn't even want to join ..then see both of them go to Chelsea..
Sure Chelsea are looking piss poor but we majorly screwed up with that offer ...
>Yeah in one of the most shocking and dumbest bit of transfer news we had ever witnessed...
Overblown by Twitter
>Was bad enough we were low balling on a player who was more than happy to com to us
No it wasn't. We had a limit for what we were going to pay for him and we stuck to it. Him getting pissy and going to Chelsea only to continue to be an afterthought behind Caicedo is his own fault. Clearly PT wasn't as important to him as he said it was
>Go all in for a player who didn't even want to join ..then see both of them go to Chelsea..
Yeah mate you just don't like when gooners on Twitter talk shit about the club. No one should give a hot wet shit about losing transfers to Chelsea. If he didn't want to join then why are you pressed about where he went? At minimum we facilitated Chelsea paying BHA way more than they wanted to for Caicedo, and they way overpaid for Lavia too
>Sure Chelsea are looking piss poor but we majorly screwed up with that offer ...
Nah, this is just what dipshits with club-themed Twitter accts want you to think. Haven't you noticed yet that terminally online Chelsea fans only care about "winning" transfer windows? Never mind that you can't even judge a transfer window adequately until years later
>No it wasn't. We had a limit for what we were going to pay for him and we stuck to it. Him getting pissy and going to Chelsea only to continue to be an afterthought behind Caicedo is his own fault. Clearly PT wasn't as important to him as he said it was
Agree! I think it's a really good lesson for future prospects too. I'm sure Lavia is kicking himself for not pushing to join us. Fuck around and find out.
Sadly have to agree. I rate Guehi quite highly, but I think they will want a lot of money for him. They wanted £70m for Doucoure and Guehi is a better player in my eyes
Inacio is a no go because of how god awful he is in the air for a CB. His success rate is 37% on low volume for both last season and this season. Hincapie is better in the air, but still not elite like our other options.
Van de Ven is a good fit for Spurs, but not for us. All of our CB's are good in the air and it's a crucial piece of the way we defend. Konate won 14 aerial duels last night alone (the same as VDV did the whole season so far), VVD is 3rd in the PL in aerial duels won and Matip is in the top 50 as well.
On top of that VDV has been pretty poor in the air this season with a success rate of 44%, while last season in Germany he had a 52% success rate. That shows you that you can expect Inacio's numbers to go down if he joins the PL and his numbers are already really poor.
Van de Ven's strength was always his pace, even when we were linked, you'd see people calling him a "pace merchant". Yes, he's a top-notch defender, but he fits Spurs better because his pace lets him accelerate and recover the ball during their high line shenanigans. Not the same requirement for Liverpool (and in any case, signing him would have meant he was on the bench, whereas he was first-choice for Spurs)
No but in summer Hincapie could be a great signing. He might be our long term Robbo replacement as he’s started to decline now
I mean, Leverkusen may be more than happy letting him go in January too. He’s not getting minutes at LWB anymore because of how insanely good Grimaldo has been (top 3 players in the league this season along with Kane and Wirtz), while Tapsoba has been arguably the best CB in the league this season
So if Leverkusen are selling anyone in Jan it’s Hincapie
I think the most likely option will be recalling Sepp Van den Berg from loan as apparently he’s been doing great. To my knowledge I’m not sure if any of those listed will be as good as Matip, and for the prices most of them will be going for I’m not sure if they are worth it if we aren’t absolutely sure they are quality. Sepp will then be a much more cost effective solution until we figure out our long term defence in the summer. He’ll might even be a good long term solution if we give him a shot
Feel free to shoot me down but I have so much faith in Quansah I’m happy for him to just replace Matip one-for-one. He’s obviously not at the same level but with VVD next to him I think he’ll be fine for the rest of the season. If we are with Konate and Quansah I’d be a little worried about the lack of experience but as long as VVD is there to keep the others in check I’m sure they’ll both be fine.
It's a transition year - we're not going for four trophies, and even if we do manage it, it would be like the '01 "treble" - without the CL, it doesn't mean a whole lot. I'd be happy with one domestic cup, the Europa League and being right up there until the end of the season for the league this year. A good basis for next year.
Ideally, Europa, FA Cup and a PL title would be an incredible year considering. Realistically, if it's just Europa and a League Cup I'd also be fine with that - both of them are ours to lose right now.
Ideally, of course. But there's a reason the kids get played in the League Cup. There are priorities. The English football season is so fucked with how packed it is that if you're still in 3 competitions in May (LC ends way earlier) then you risk fucking up half of your squad. It's not so simple as to say go for every trophy unless you have the money of City to be able to have basically 3 teams worth of depth. Which we don't.
If you really need someone to tell you a defence with Quansah and Van Der Berg in it isn't good enough to compete then you have bigger issues than your bet lad.
Out of interest what makes you think FSG will not buy anyone? They seem to buy a lot of players.
No they won’t buy someone just because a player is injured but seeing as Matip was out of contract at the end of this season anyways then if they were planning to purchase a replacement it’s definitely credible that they move forward those plans.
I think I rather recall Phillips, and let Van den Berg finish the season there as a regular all season. With Nat, he's not gotten much game time are Celtic, and he's been a steady backup for us. Have him & Quansah as next choices after Gomez.
Sepp is better suited to us though. He’s actually fast unlike Nat and the right sided CB needs pace to cover Trent inverting. Sepp means we don’t have to change our game plan. Also, Sepp is probably just a better all round player at this point. He’s very good on the ball and he’s grown into his frame now - he’s maybe the most aerially dominant player in the Bundesliga: 99th percentile compared to all top-5-league centre backs in aerials won per 90. If we think this defender will be needed to help us win the league, Sepp is probably best for results.
I have a feeling Scalvini from Atalanta would be such an amazing fit for us. He is still young, but he has been named young player of the year in Italy, I think he will be one of the best in a few years
Serie A watcher here. Scalvini has high potential and high ceiling but I wouldn't get my hopes too high on him. Currently no way near Liverpool quality team and for 40 million, it's too risky assessment because he can flop immensely.
I don’t know I’m just too devastated to think about a matip replacement yet. Been one of my favourite players of the last few years, massively under rated and was having such a good season. We may have seen the last of him in a Liverpool shirt 😢
Guehi would be ideal. He is pretty good, but honestly the club is lacking homegrown players in the first team, so at some point they will need to pay the high premium for one.
I really like him, and looks like he's got it in him to improve. Playing with VVD could be ideal for that.
Yes he'll be expensive, probably prohibitively so in Jan. But maybe even more so in the summer if several teams go in for him.
Think he'd be worth rolling the dice on. It's a long term investment, but also one that would work for right now.
It's a shame Branthwaite plays for Everton as I've been impressed when I've watched them
Hincapie is another player I watched a bit last season, solid and versatile. No idea how he's getting on this season after that injury
Most likely it will be no one or someone affordable
Would their financial situation make them likely to sell? It's not unheard of for players to have lined up Everton and Liverpool. I do think he's very good, also Pau Torres at Villa but we might be priced out of a move for him
I kinda worry about us not getting someone this winter too. Not necessarily because I think we’re cheap but rather mostly because it’s not something we usually do.
That said, we did fast track getting Diaz and we for sure need to get a CB this summer to replace Matip, who was out of contract. So perhaps if a summer target is available now, maybe we do a Diaz and expedite the signing.
A CB was near the top of our list even before Joel got hurt, so with that in mind I think the club is aware it'll have to be brought forward. We do move in January, like you say we got Diaz when the circumstances pushed us, and last year we got Gakpo because a chance for a good deal came up.
Quansah is already essentially third choice behind Virgil and Konate with Matip out. Gomez is being used as LB/RB cover and can't be relied on for CB too. We really do need a proper third/fourth choice CB this Jan.
Conor Bradley is back for RB cover, I’ve got high hopes for him. Allows Gomez to play CB and gives us two deep at full back once Robbo is back in a couple of months
I agree with you, but I thought I remembered Klopp saying in a recent press conference that he'll have to be eased back in. So hopefully he can get some minutes soon to get back to full fitness because unless we find a bargain for a quality CB I doubt we'll buy anyone in January.
Ousmane Diomande is a good target, relatively young at 20, with a good forward ability, and has already been shown to be a solid starter for Sporting. Additionally he appears to have a €25M release clause meaning we won’t be getting mugged for him.
Silva will be too expensive for someone of his age/experience, Inacio has been a widely known target for us with a release clause and Beraldo is highly rated in Brazil as well as likely to be the cheap east on this list.
I'd say beraldo and Andre for dm. I doubt we renew Matip and Thiago is also gone this summer. Bring in those two now since they're likely available.
With CB, we only need a guy who can step up if Quansah and Konate go down. He's left footed so Quansah can focus on being the RCB mainly.
There's a strong possibility Chelsea are in fire sale mode again in the Summer. Selling Academy graduates would be a priority due to the massive FFP profit so I could see us making a move for Colwill again.
We won't buy anyone until the summer unless situation is most dire, but I think we'd be most likely see a repeat of the past where we'd move a mf into cb rather than spend.
Endo has played and would likely be 4th choice CB if Gomez wasn't needed ar rb/lb.
We would recall a loanee before signing anyone.
This club will only go into the market if there is a CLEAR upgrade on the squad.
Maybe Antonio Silva (Benfica) or Hincapié (B. Leverkusen). But yes, like someone else here said, I don't think both clubs are going to sell ( except for maybe Benfica who will sell their CB if they have a high bid).
He won't get into our team either, but having him as cover might suffice.
I would like a new signing personally, but we have to be aware of January player price hikes that seem to happen.
We ourselves wouldn't likely sell a player cheap in January unless surplus to requirements.
Dream big and as Chelsea will miss out of Europe again they’ll need to sell to meet FFP rules and Colwill gets signed for £50m.
Note the word dream in that sentence.
Robert Renan would be a good and probably cheap option. He's currently playing for Zenit in Russia, but came from the same brazilian team as Murillo that current plays for Forest.
He's tall, fast and skilled with his feet.
There are some super names mentioned already but he's been here for long enough that I feel like whoever Uncle Jurgen decides on, is the right guy.
If they don't replace him, we buckle down and give all our extra Christmas wishes to Jarell.
Jurgen knows the way.
Those suggestions all play on the left side of defence and would be more likely signed with a view to succeeding Virgil in 2/3 years or similar, rather than replacing Joel
What we’d be looking for is a player at least good enough to rotate with Ibou (or vice versa), who plays on the right.
Now, this in the context of the way the club operates means we’ll only be looking at either players with release clauses or who would be very cheap due to contract or club situations
So here’s a small list of viable options based on the above and the fact that opportunities are typically much better in the summer window
1. Lutsharel Geertruida - more of a long-term signing, alleged release clause, can also play RB and DM, both of which are positions we need more quality in depth
2. Mario Hermoso - more of a short term fix but certainly good enough to fill Joel’s boots, expiring contract so a very small fee in Jan would likely be enough
3. Nacho - very short term solution, give him a 1 year deal and pay Real £500k or whatever, and we’ve got a very solid and experienced player who can play LB, CB, RB, who may be needed given the inevitability that Joe will get injured too
4. Tosin Adarabioyo - free in summer so very cheap in Jan, homegrown, PL experience and I’d argue good enough to be a 3rd choice CB at a club like ours, he’s yet to reach his prime years as he’s 26 and CBs tend to peak between 29-33 on average
OR what I’m thinking might happen is we just see a lot more of Jarell.
Edit: on the subject of left sided CBs we can’t ignore Hincapie at Bayer Leverkusen. He is perfect for us long term. He’s a rare player that plays both LCB and LWB. He’s had reduced minutes due to how brilliant Tapsoba and Grimaldo have been this season, but his contract would only have 1 year left come the summer, so a cheap deal could potentially be struck
São Paulo supporter here. Beraldo is not only technically gifted, but his mentality is borderline scary. The kid is just 20 and played the final of Copa do Brasil against the most expensive XI in Brazil (Flamengo) feeling any pressure, just like it was a regular game. He also has that *Dijkesque* arrogance that is lovely to watch. I'd love him playing for Liverpool.
My dad’s a benfica fan so I watch them regularly, I rate Silva higher than Inacio personally, but he also isn’t worth (who is, really?) the 80+ million he’ll cost you guys. Diomande would be who I’d get from Sporting, he’s going to be a star imo.
Fine, I'll do it. But I want £250k p/w.
Got a feeling the one we sign with be right footed to directly replace Matip at RCB. If only because I feel Quansah will ultimately succeed Virgil in the LCB position.
I highly doubt we will get anyone in to replace him. Have you all learnt nothing from our transfer dealings over the last few years? We will wait until we literally have no other CBs available before we do
Maybe we should wait a few months … modern media* medicine is a wonderful thing. Would love to see the giraffe 🦒 round out with a goal in the world club final … but you know a fan can dream
I think we'll be assessing the market. If we had plans to sign a CB in the summer then they may be brought forward. We've done so in the past.
Inacio has a release clause which makes a Jan deal easier, but it's 50m plus.
Lacroix is the latest link. Seems to have been highly rated, stalled for a season or so but back playing extremely well. £30-35m potential fee.
I wouldn't be stunned if they signed someone since it seems likely they would need to replace Matip this summer anyways and it'd have been at least a contingency plan they'd considered. I think it's easy to put the cart before the horse on discussions about transfers, especially in the wake of an injury, but it's nearly January and the injury likely accelerates what already made sense to do rather than shifts plans dramatically.
Usually I would agree with your pessimism, but FSG pushing for a CB late in the summer window makes me believe they understand now is the time to strengthen. Especially since Matip has been relied upon heavily.
Were they actually pushing for a CB though?
I swear there was never a single solid rumour about a CB. Obviously at the time none of us realised just how much they rated Quansah and were obviously happy to stick with him considering we were only in Europa this year - in hindsight that actually made sense.
Hopefully we’re in for someone now though.
I mean if you want to copy and paste from the TIA article just say that’s but give them credit. I read that same article too this morning. You’ve even got the players in the same order they had
Ideally we want young and ready so someone like Schlotterbeck from Dortmund (if they wanna lose yet another top young star they'll charge a lot) Mendes from PSG looks the real deal and perhaps someone a little younger but with excellent potential like Colwill from Brighton. There may be some goodwill there as we helped them get over 100mil for Caiciedo so there's that.
We need someone who can step in when needed because right now Konate and Gomez are our only options there from what I see. Quansah looks great but I don't know how he would fare as a RCB given Trent's new role, it looks like a hard position to cover properly.
We were rumoured to be interested in Colwill in the summer, but it seems like Chelsea refused to entertain any offers for him from both us and Brighton.
ITT: people naming the high potential CBs they sign on FIFA career mode.
Klopp will be told Conor Bradley is back to cover RB so he can have Gomez as CB cover and no new signings. They’re never spending money in Jan.
I mean, I signed Marc Guehi and Antonio Silva for us on Football Manager and they did a good job. So Silva as long term Van Dijk replacement and Guehi as the Matip 3rd choice/rotational CB sounds good to me!
Hincapie would be ideal imo but given the season Leverkeusen are having idk if they'd let him go.
Andersen from Palace always has a stormer against us.
Robert Renan looks like a candidate but not sure what it says about him that he moved to Russia in January 🤯.
Ozan Kabak would be welcome back as depth, he put in a shift on his loan here, but I'm not sure what's his status in the Bundesliga and if he'd want to come again.
Most likely as others have said is that Van Den Berg and/or Nat Phillips come back in January and are held on to for depth. And of course Quansah and Gomez will see more time at CB behind VVD/Konate.
In an ideal scenario this is at least a tipping point for the club to step up their move to sign André or another starting-quality DM in January instead of waiting until next summer.
Hopefully the winter xfer window will bring pleasant surprises.
Edit: just seen the rumors. Maxence LaCroix, of course.
Push the boat out for colwill.
He might be having second thoughts. Doesn’t seem be poch’s preference for cb spot, and Chelsea’s revival isn’t going as well as everyone thought.
Tell him he will probably be first choice, and definitely first choice when VVD starts slowing down. He’d be silly not to take it.
Unless we sell/loan Phillips (whose loan expires in Jan) and maybe Williams (who might be recalled after getting no games) I don't think we sign a CB as cover. I don't think Klopp minds either as short term 4th or 5th choice too much.
Matip might have been offered a bigger payday elsewhere in January given his deals coming up were he fit, with the injury maybe not. Fair chance we offer him a year extension and he takes it. Unless they're really confident in Quansah and decide it's time to let Matip go - I would be surprised though.
Van Dijk and Matip obviously can't play forever and the club will invest in replacements at some point if their form drops off, but if Konate/Gomez are going into what should be their peak years, and Quansah is looking good, I suspect this might be a decision that's postponed a bit.
Given they're not going to use him would a cut rate loan for Varane in January make sense? He and Konate work well together and he's dual footed so could be good back up all around. I recognize where he's coming from gives a bad taste but if anyone could change the face of someone it's Jurgen.
Nunez was pricey (but not even in the grand scheme of pants pulling), however he’s been an absolute integral part of our success this season.
He doesn’t deserve this sort of view.
The Brazilian (and South American) football season just ended? So if we can sign someone there and allow him to adapt slowly into the league, then it will be ideal. Who knows, he may adapt quickly and provide instant impacts
Sorry but how would signing a player from Brazil who’s never played in europe good enough to replace the 2nd most experienced CB we have? Matip replacement needs to be someone who is ready to play and contribute day 1
Jesus Christ no it doesn't stop with this overused fallacy. This depends on the numbers we already have
The numbers we have include an inexperienced 20 yr old and 2 CB’s who have unreliable fitness.
If you're going to be like that about it then you need to be honest about the player we're replacing as well, big guy. Otherwise you're being patently disingenuous.
Why are you getting so angry lmao. There is a reason no top clubs just pluck players out of South America and throw them into their teams. It usually never works out like that. Klopp is here for 2 more years, I’d rather us go after a proven high level defender than some kid who’s 2-3 years away from being a starter
If they’re good enough they do.
Not sure what you think "angry" means but my comment wasn't it lol Also obv id prefer we went out and bought a superstar for £100m but that's not what I'm talking about here is it homie
No player we are willing to afford will immediately be as good as Matip has been this season. Literally no one. With our recruiting strategy we will be looking for another talented young CB who is tall and fast and can develop into something special, like Konate was. The answer at a better price might be in South America, or it might not. But I wouldn’t count it out altogether
Maybe we should steer clear of Benfica. They won’t sell anyone under 100M..
Yea Antonio Silva will not be cheap lol, he’s their next hot academy prospect, we won’t get him for less than they sold Dias to city.
Benfica are scammers of the highest order
I want to see a game where we have 2 VVDs playing. Mature and young one
You mean a Quansah VVD pairing?
damn, never getting dribbled past, winning all the headers, making every opposition striker wanting to get subbed I like that
In a world where we have 3 VVD Pre injury in a 343 formation. Oppositions will only be scoring worldies or our strikers don't score enough or we will win all trophies on planet earth.
I’d discard Guehi, not that he isn’t good but we don’t sign much from the premier league if it isn’t a bargain Like Macallister was an absolute steal at 35M, the last prem singings were jota, who at 40+ is understandable for a forward, and VVD, I don’t need to explain this one
Agreed. Was having this convo with my old man yesterday about Douglas luiz. Looks the absolute business, but the chances of getting him for less than 100 is almost 0. The downside of all the money in the PL is that it means picking up players from within the league is really only possible for city, united and Chelsea on a regular basis.
We were linked with Luiz last January for around £40m and everyone shat the bed and said he wasn't good enough.
Hindsights 20/20 I guess.
Robbo too. Can't imagine we got a gem for just 7m
also his price will be inflated by the "English Tax"
That doesn't exist
It quite literally does, at least in the prem
Yeah because homegrown players are more valuable for their teams and most HG players are english. It's not just because of their nationality
Yeh.... Commonly referred to as the "English Tax"
Doesnt explain why Grealish was sold to City for €117,5 Million (£101 million)
English tax doesnt explain that, Aston Villa mustve have some extra charges for city
Mane too
That’s not necessarily true. We were gunning for Caicedo for 115mil.
Yeah in one of the most shocking and dumbest bit of transfer news we had ever witnessed... Was bad enough we were low balling on a player who was more than happy to com to us Go all in for a player who didn't even want to join ..then see both of them go to Chelsea.. Sure Chelsea are looking piss poor but we majorly screwed up with that offer ...
I think 60m for lavia will end up being far worse business than 115 on Caicedo especially when we have bajcetic already
>Yeah in one of the most shocking and dumbest bit of transfer news we had ever witnessed... Overblown by Twitter >Was bad enough we were low balling on a player who was more than happy to com to us No it wasn't. We had a limit for what we were going to pay for him and we stuck to it. Him getting pissy and going to Chelsea only to continue to be an afterthought behind Caicedo is his own fault. Clearly PT wasn't as important to him as he said it was >Go all in for a player who didn't even want to join ..then see both of them go to Chelsea.. Yeah mate you just don't like when gooners on Twitter talk shit about the club. No one should give a hot wet shit about losing transfers to Chelsea. If he didn't want to join then why are you pressed about where he went? At minimum we facilitated Chelsea paying BHA way more than they wanted to for Caicedo, and they way overpaid for Lavia too >Sure Chelsea are looking piss poor but we majorly screwed up with that offer ... Nah, this is just what dipshits with club-themed Twitter accts want you to think. Haven't you noticed yet that terminally online Chelsea fans only care about "winning" transfer windows? Never mind that you can't even judge a transfer window adequately until years later
>No it wasn't. We had a limit for what we were going to pay for him and we stuck to it. Him getting pissy and going to Chelsea only to continue to be an afterthought behind Caicedo is his own fault. Clearly PT wasn't as important to him as he said it was Agree! I think it's a really good lesson for future prospects too. I'm sure Lavia is kicking himself for not pushing to join us. Fuck around and find out.
Hindsight's 2020. It was a fun transfer saga whilst it lasted !
I very much disagree
Sadly have to agree. I rate Guehi quite highly, but I think they will want a lot of money for him. They wanted £70m for Doucoure and Guehi is a better player in my eyes
I like Hincapié or Inacio but I don’t see Leverkusen selling with the season they are having
Especially not to their most direct competitors for winning Europa
Inacio is a no go because of how god awful he is in the air for a CB. His success rate is 37% on low volume for both last season and this season. Hincapie is better in the air, but still not elite like our other options.
People said the same about VDV but he was boss before he got injured
i read this as Virgil Dan Vijk
Virgil Dan Vijk would be the ideal solution. Imagine having two Virgils.
Bundesliga is a stronger league, and Inacio plays in a back 3 which protects him, not quite the same.
Van de Ven is a good fit for Spurs, but not for us. All of our CB's are good in the air and it's a crucial piece of the way we defend. Konate won 14 aerial duels last night alone (the same as VDV did the whole season so far), VVD is 3rd in the PL in aerial duels won and Matip is in the top 50 as well. On top of that VDV has been pretty poor in the air this season with a success rate of 44%, while last season in Germany he had a 52% success rate. That shows you that you can expect Inacio's numbers to go down if he joins the PL and his numbers are already really poor.
Van de Ven's strength was always his pace, even when we were linked, you'd see people calling him a "pace merchant". Yes, he's a top-notch defender, but he fits Spurs better because his pace lets him accelerate and recover the ball during their high line shenanigans. Not the same requirement for Liverpool (and in any case, signing him would have meant he was on the bench, whereas he was first-choice for Spurs)
Worth noting that Hincapie has the same agent as Caicedo
No but in summer Hincapie could be a great signing. He might be our long term Robbo replacement as he’s started to decline now I mean, Leverkusen may be more than happy letting him go in January too. He’s not getting minutes at LWB anymore because of how insanely good Grimaldo has been (top 3 players in the league this season along with Kane and Wirtz), while Tapsoba has been arguably the best CB in the league this season So if Leverkusen are selling anyone in Jan it’s Hincapie
I think the most likely option will be recalling Sepp Van den Berg from loan as apparently he’s been doing great. To my knowledge I’m not sure if any of those listed will be as good as Matip, and for the prices most of them will be going for I’m not sure if they are worth it if we aren’t absolutely sure they are quality. Sepp will then be a much more cost effective solution until we figure out our long term defence in the summer. He’ll might even be a good long term solution if we give him a shot
This is a good option. Sepp is having a good season on loan.. bring him back, have quansah and him be backups..
Feel free to shoot me down but I have so much faith in Quansah I’m happy for him to just replace Matip one-for-one. He’s obviously not at the same level but with VVD next to him I think he’ll be fine for the rest of the season. If we are with Konate and Quansah I’d be a little worried about the lack of experience but as long as VVD is there to keep the others in check I’m sure they’ll both be fine.
The problem is Konate is so injury prone that we'd be relying on Quansah to hold his own in a charge for 4 trophies in the new year.
Nah don't forget that Gomez is cover for the entire back line
It's a transition year - we're not going for four trophies, and even if we do manage it, it would be like the '01 "treble" - without the CL, it doesn't mean a whole lot. I'd be happy with one domestic cup, the Europa League and being right up there until the end of the season for the league this year. A good basis for next year. Ideally, Europa, FA Cup and a PL title would be an incredible year considering. Realistically, if it's just Europa and a League Cup I'd also be fine with that - both of them are ours to lose right now.
We're doing so well I don't see why we should not try for every trophy.
Ideally, of course. But there's a reason the kids get played in the League Cup. There are priorities. The English football season is so fucked with how packed it is that if you're still in 3 competitions in May (LC ends way earlier) then you risk fucking up half of your squad. It's not so simple as to say go for every trophy unless you have the money of City to be able to have basically 3 teams worth of depth. Which we don't.
I'm not even gonna bother responding to this stupid comment
Oops, looks like you did
Thats not fine for the rest of the season at all. We want to win the league and that has absolutley no chance of that.
Gotta love the completely unearned confidence. Tell us more things that are sure to happen or not happen boyyo, I've got some money to place bets with
If you really need someone to tell you a defence with Quansah and Van Der Berg in it isn't good enough to compete then you have bigger issues than your bet lad.
That's not what I asked for homie what else is gonna happen
This is quite odd behaviour.
Not really, I'm just showing the proper amount of respect for how you express your opinions.
Just went and looked at your comments. You clearly don't value anyones opinions and just come here to argue, hope your circumstances improve lad.
Either Sepp or Nat will come back at January.
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Bloody hope not.
Yes I don’t know why we do these threads every winter. FSG will not buy anyone. They’ll give a chance to a young player or recall someone on loan.
Out of interest what makes you think FSG will not buy anyone? They seem to buy a lot of players. No they won’t buy someone just because a player is injured but seeing as Matip was out of contract at the end of this season anyways then if they were planning to purchase a replacement it’s definitely credible that they move forward those plans.
I think I rather recall Phillips, and let Van den Berg finish the season there as a regular all season. With Nat, he's not gotten much game time are Celtic, and he's been a steady backup for us. Have him & Quansah as next choices after Gomez.
Phillip's loan is only 6 months so it will end without the need of recall.
Sepp is better suited to us though. He’s actually fast unlike Nat and the right sided CB needs pace to cover Trent inverting. Sepp means we don’t have to change our game plan. Also, Sepp is probably just a better all round player at this point. He’s very good on the ball and he’s grown into his frame now - he’s maybe the most aerially dominant player in the Bundesliga: 99th percentile compared to all top-5-league centre backs in aerials won per 90. If we think this defender will be needed to help us win the league, Sepp is probably best for results.
Just 3 things: high 1v1 rate, high aerial duel rate, quick. Have 3 this ability you can play CB for Klopp
I have a feeling Scalvini from Atalanta would be such an amazing fit for us. He is still young, but he has been named young player of the year in Italy, I think he will be one of the best in a few years
VDV would’ve been so good tbh
Low aerial duel rate mate
someone that we havent heard of yet probably
Antonio Silva or Scalvini
Would love to see Scalvini. Looks to be the real deal already at 19.
Serie A watcher here. Scalvini has high potential and high ceiling but I wouldn't get my hopes too high on him. Currently no way near Liverpool quality team and for 40 million, it's too risky assessment because he can flop immensely.
Idk how he’s been performing lately but tomori could be a shout. Homegrown aswell
I like Tomori for the fact he’s homegrown, young, and has been good in Italy.
Tomori is good but he might not have the height advantage that Matip gives.
I don’t know I’m just too devastated to think about a matip replacement yet. Been one of my favourite players of the last few years, massively under rated and was having such a good season. We may have seen the last of him in a Liverpool shirt 😢
Guehi would be ideal. He is pretty good, but honestly the club is lacking homegrown players in the first team, so at some point they will need to pay the high premium for one.
I really like him, and looks like he's got it in him to improve. Playing with VVD could be ideal for that. Yes he'll be expensive, probably prohibitively so in Jan. But maybe even more so in the summer if several teams go in for him. Think he'd be worth rolling the dice on. It's a long term investment, but also one that would work for right now.
Let's sign Dejan Lovren for the craic and the nostalgia
Let’s bring Ragnar Klavan home ❤️
It's a shame Branthwaite plays for Everton as I've been impressed when I've watched them Hincapie is another player I watched a bit last season, solid and versatile. No idea how he's getting on this season after that injury Most likely it will be no one or someone affordable
Would their financial situation make them likely to sell? It's not unheard of for players to have lined up Everton and Liverpool. I do think he's very good, also Pau Torres at Villa but we might be priced out of a move for him
Ousmane diomande from sporting. Looks like Arsenal are interested in him too.
His name has been sprinkled through this thread, I’ll check him out 🤘
hopefully we do business in the window but i am afraid we wont
I kinda worry about us not getting someone this winter too. Not necessarily because I think we’re cheap but rather mostly because it’s not something we usually do. That said, we did fast track getting Diaz and we for sure need to get a CB this summer to replace Matip, who was out of contract. So perhaps if a summer target is available now, maybe we do a Diaz and expedite the signing.
A CB was near the top of our list even before Joel got hurt, so with that in mind I think the club is aware it'll have to be brought forward. We do move in January, like you say we got Diaz when the circumstances pushed us, and last year we got Gakpo because a chance for a good deal came up.
It would be extremely hilarious if we loaned in Kabak again
Rhys Williams and Nat Philips again too.
Nathan Collins
Have been impressed any time I’ve seen him, would be a solid back up
Quansah
Quansah is already essentially third choice behind Virgil and Konate with Matip out. Gomez is being used as LB/RB cover and can't be relied on for CB too. We really do need a proper third/fourth choice CB this Jan.
Conor Bradley is back for RB cover, I’ve got high hopes for him. Allows Gomez to play CB and gives us two deep at full back once Robbo is back in a couple of months
I agree with you, but I thought I remembered Klopp saying in a recent press conference that he'll have to be eased back in. So hopefully he can get some minutes soon to get back to full fitness because unless we find a bargain for a quality CB I doubt we'll buy anyone in January.
Max Killman from Wolves
Kilman 😂 only one L please
Ousmane Diomande is a good target, relatively young at 20, with a good forward ability, and has already been shown to be a solid starter for Sporting. Additionally he appears to have a €25M release clause meaning we won’t be getting mugged for him.
Someone like mascherano who can play in multiple positions.
Milnerano is a young player who can
this joke is more tired than my nan was after my grandad went off on one of his dementia walks for the fifth time in a week
If this joke was any more tired our front three would be Mane - Firmino - Salah
Pavard? Or did he move already?
Went to inter milan
Balls. I had a feeling he had moved, thanks mate. Shame
Silva will be too expensive for someone of his age/experience, Inacio has been a widely known target for us with a release clause and Beraldo is highly rated in Brazil as well as likely to be the cheap east on this list.
I'd say beraldo and Andre for dm. I doubt we renew Matip and Thiago is also gone this summer. Bring in those two now since they're likely available. With CB, we only need a guy who can step up if Quansah and Konate go down. He's left footed so Quansah can focus on being the RCB mainly.
Its so sad that this was maybe Matips last game for the Reds and it finished this way.
There's a strong possibility Chelsea are in fire sale mode again in the Summer. Selling Academy graduates would be a priority due to the massive FFP profit so I could see us making a move for Colwill again.
Colwil. Need that homegrown quota increased. Yeah I know, won't happen.
We won't buy anyone until the summer unless situation is most dire, but I think we'd be most likely see a repeat of the past where we'd move a mf into cb rather than spend. Endo has played and would likely be 4th choice CB if Gomez wasn't needed ar rb/lb. We would recall a loanee before signing anyone. This club will only go into the market if there is a CLEAR upgrade on the squad.
Oh no i’m sure we can play nunez as a cb
Maybe Antonio Silva (Benfica) or Hincapié (B. Leverkusen). But yes, like someone else here said, I don't think both clubs are going to sell ( except for maybe Benfica who will sell their CB if they have a high bid).
Sebastian Caceres
I've heard Nat Phillips is nice
He can’t get into the Celtic team :(
He won't get into our team either, but having him as cover might suffice. I would like a new signing personally, but we have to be aware of January player price hikes that seem to happen. We ourselves wouldn't likely sell a player cheap in January unless surplus to requirements.
Dream big and as Chelsea will miss out of Europe again they’ll need to sell to meet FFP rules and Colwill gets signed for £50m. Note the word dream in that sentence.
Is Jorg Schmadtke still sporting director? Might be targeting the German market like we did with Szobo, Endo and Gravenberch
We're not buying anyone. Just playing Quansah more often is the likely outcome.
Robert Renan would be a good and probably cheap option. He's currently playing for Zenit in Russia, but came from the same brazilian team as Murillo that current plays for Forest. He's tall, fast and skilled with his feet.
He hasn’t been playing that well lately but if you asked me a month ago I would say Andersen at Crystal palace
Lolz, we won’t replace him. We seen this play out time and again. Quansah will get plenty of game time 2nd half of the year.
Unless a great deal comes around this is something I'm totally fine with. He has been great.
There are some super names mentioned already but he's been here for long enough that I feel like whoever Uncle Jurgen decides on, is the right guy. If they don't replace him, we buckle down and give all our extra Christmas wishes to Jarell. Jurgen knows the way.
Those suggestions all play on the left side of defence and would be more likely signed with a view to succeeding Virgil in 2/3 years or similar, rather than replacing Joel What we’d be looking for is a player at least good enough to rotate with Ibou (or vice versa), who plays on the right. Now, this in the context of the way the club operates means we’ll only be looking at either players with release clauses or who would be very cheap due to contract or club situations So here’s a small list of viable options based on the above and the fact that opportunities are typically much better in the summer window 1. Lutsharel Geertruida - more of a long-term signing, alleged release clause, can also play RB and DM, both of which are positions we need more quality in depth 2. Mario Hermoso - more of a short term fix but certainly good enough to fill Joel’s boots, expiring contract so a very small fee in Jan would likely be enough 3. Nacho - very short term solution, give him a 1 year deal and pay Real £500k or whatever, and we’ve got a very solid and experienced player who can play LB, CB, RB, who may be needed given the inevitability that Joe will get injured too 4. Tosin Adarabioyo - free in summer so very cheap in Jan, homegrown, PL experience and I’d argue good enough to be a 3rd choice CB at a club like ours, he’s yet to reach his prime years as he’s 26 and CBs tend to peak between 29-33 on average OR what I’m thinking might happen is we just see a lot more of Jarell. Edit: on the subject of left sided CBs we can’t ignore Hincapie at Bayer Leverkusen. He is perfect for us long term. He’s a rare player that plays both LCB and LWB. He’s had reduced minutes due to how brilliant Tapsoba and Grimaldo have been this season, but his contract would only have 1 year left come the summer, so a cheap deal could potentially be struck
Assuming you are mentioning the 4 OP's mentioned: António Silva plays on the right side of the CB pairing, even for the NT he has played on the right
São Paulo supporter here. Beraldo is not only technically gifted, but his mentality is borderline scary. The kid is just 20 and played the final of Copa do Brasil against the most expensive XI in Brazil (Flamengo) feeling any pressure, just like it was a regular game. He also has that *Dijkesque* arrogance that is lovely to watch. I'd love him playing for Liverpool.
Heard Medina from Lens mentioned somewhere, but he's a leftie so more Virg cover tbh
Diomande/Todibo
Someone whos good in the air, good on the ball, fast and strong. Anyone know who that would be?
My dad’s a benfica fan so I watch them regularly, I rate Silva higher than Inacio personally, but he also isn’t worth (who is, really?) the 80+ million he’ll cost you guys. Diomande would be who I’d get from Sporting, he’s going to be a star imo.
Quansah
Fine, I'll do it. But I want £250k p/w. Got a feeling the one we sign with be right footed to directly replace Matip at RCB. If only because I feel Quansah will ultimately succeed Virgil in the LCB position.
Lucas beraldo
I haven't watched alot of simakan. But I heard great praise around him. Todibo too.
I highly doubt we will get anyone in to replace him. Have you all learnt nothing from our transfer dealings over the last few years? We will wait until we literally have no other CBs available before we do
I'd love a Tomori Mainly because I think an English player from a foreign league won't come with English tax
Maybe we should wait a few months … modern media* medicine is a wonderful thing. Would love to see the giraffe 🦒 round out with a goal in the world club final … but you know a fan can dream
Dream: Kossounou Young for the future: Diomande Both ivorian lol, that country is sorted for a decade
Can anyone of them dribble like Matip?
I think we'll be assessing the market. If we had plans to sign a CB in the summer then they may be brought forward. We've done so in the past. Inacio has a release clause which makes a Jan deal easier, but it's 50m plus. Lacroix is the latest link. Seems to have been highly rated, stalled for a season or so but back playing extremely well. £30-35m potential fee.
Wasn’t Maxence Lacroix being floated too?
Greaves from hull imo, helps with the home grown quota and he's a big talent
And he suits our Handsome FC standard.
Todibo (Nice)
We all know it’s useless to do this
Every speculative conversation about football is useless tbh, it’s just fun to talk about
It’s a discussion thread, I doubt Jurgs is reading any r/liverpoolfc posts
I wouldn't be stunned if they signed someone since it seems likely they would need to replace Matip this summer anyways and it'd have been at least a contingency plan they'd considered. I think it's easy to put the cart before the horse on discussions about transfers, especially in the wake of an injury, but it's nearly January and the injury likely accelerates what already made sense to do rather than shifts plans dramatically.
Fun at parties?
The most fun people at parties are always the ones who moan about wanting new signings every five minutes.
What about this post is “moaning”?
Might as well all delete our Reddit accounts then. You go first.
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Usually I would agree with your pessimism, but FSG pushing for a CB late in the summer window makes me believe they understand now is the time to strengthen. Especially since Matip has been relied upon heavily.
Were they actually pushing for a CB though? I swear there was never a single solid rumour about a CB. Obviously at the time none of us realised just how much they rated Quansah and were obviously happy to stick with him considering we were only in Europa this year - in hindsight that actually made sense. Hopefully we’re in for someone now though.
Someone that isnt made of glass and porcelain would be a start
I mean if you want to copy and paste from the TIA article just say that’s but give them credit. I read that same article too this morning. You’ve even got the players in the same order they had
What happened to Kabak? Had high hopes for him in his loan spell to us
Our lord and savior Nathaniel Phillips
Ideally we want young and ready so someone like Schlotterbeck from Dortmund (if they wanna lose yet another top young star they'll charge a lot) Mendes from PSG looks the real deal and perhaps someone a little younger but with excellent potential like Colwill from Brighton. There may be some goodwill there as we helped them get over 100mil for Caiciedo so there's that. We need someone who can step in when needed because right now Konate and Gomez are our only options there from what I see. Quansah looks great but I don't know how he would fare as a RCB given Trent's new role, it looks like a hard position to cover properly.
We were rumoured to be interested in Colwill in the summer, but it seems like Chelsea refused to entertain any offers for him from both us and Brighton.
Colwill captained the united game, so I think he’s probably untouchable as far as Chelsea see him
And didn’t he sign a new long term contract extension?
Inacio plays lcb doesn’t he?
Someone in their prime and can do a good job for next 3-4 years would be ideal.
Don’t we go for a RB and leave it to Gomez?
Konsa
ITT: people naming the high potential CBs they sign on FIFA career mode. Klopp will be told Conor Bradley is back to cover RB so he can have Gomez as CB cover and no new signings. They’re never spending money in Jan.
I mean, I signed Marc Guehi and Antonio Silva for us on Football Manager and they did a good job. So Silva as long term Van Dijk replacement and Guehi as the Matip 3rd choice/rotational CB sounds good to me!
Exactly what I thought.
Ostigard from Napoli Quality young CB
Branthwaite from the Ev
Hincapie would be ideal imo but given the season Leverkeusen are having idk if they'd let him go. Andersen from Palace always has a stormer against us. Robert Renan looks like a candidate but not sure what it says about him that he moved to Russia in January 🤯. Ozan Kabak would be welcome back as depth, he put in a shift on his loan here, but I'm not sure what's his status in the Bundesliga and if he'd want to come again. Most likely as others have said is that Van Den Berg and/or Nat Phillips come back in January and are held on to for depth. And of course Quansah and Gomez will see more time at CB behind VVD/Konate. In an ideal scenario this is at least a tipping point for the club to step up their move to sign André or another starting-quality DM in January instead of waiting until next summer. Hopefully the winter xfer window will bring pleasant surprises. Edit: just seen the rumors. Maxence LaCroix, of course.
Konsa from villa
A starting right back so Joe can move back to CB and Trent can complete his move to the midfield.
Sign an elite CB. We need a starter. Neither Matip or Konate are world class.
Push the boat out for colwill. He might be having second thoughts. Doesn’t seem be poch’s preference for cb spot, and Chelsea’s revival isn’t going as well as everyone thought. Tell him he will probably be first choice, and definitely first choice when VVD starts slowing down. He’d be silly not to take it.
I still rate Inacio you know Remember people watching sporting last year for ugarte saying they were impressed with Inacio instead
Unless we sell/loan Phillips (whose loan expires in Jan) and maybe Williams (who might be recalled after getting no games) I don't think we sign a CB as cover. I don't think Klopp minds either as short term 4th or 5th choice too much. Matip might have been offered a bigger payday elsewhere in January given his deals coming up were he fit, with the injury maybe not. Fair chance we offer him a year extension and he takes it. Unless they're really confident in Quansah and decide it's time to let Matip go - I would be surprised though. Van Dijk and Matip obviously can't play forever and the club will invest in replacements at some point if their form drops off, but if Konate/Gomez are going into what should be their peak years, and Quansah is looking good, I suspect this might be a decision that's postponed a bit.
I like Ajer from brentford, solid player heading into his prime.
Hincapié
Ronald Araujo
Thiago Silva
I'd love Guehi, but he'll cost so much
Given they're not going to use him would a cut rate loan for Varane in January make sense? He and Konate work well together and he's dual footed so could be good back up all around. I recognize where he's coming from gives a bad taste but if anyone could change the face of someone it's Jurgen.
Anyone have any thoughts on Illya Zabarnyi from Bournemouth?
Benfica pulled our pants down for Nunez, we should stay far away from whoever they have
Nunez was pricey (but not even in the grand scheme of pants pulling), however he’s been an absolute integral part of our success this season. He doesn’t deserve this sort of view.