Even after a busy summer transfer window that saw four new players arrive, there arguably remain a couple of holes in the Liverpool squad, but the Reds may be trialing possible solutions before they decide their next steps.
Take defensive midfield for instance — Liverpool lacks a true, top-quality specialist in that position following the departure of Fabinho, but Jürgen Klopp has turned to Alexis Mac Allister as a somewhat unorthodox solution.
As he explained in his press conference before Sunday’s game against Brighton, Mac Allister is a viable answer as long as Liverpool defends effectively as a unit, ensuring he isn’t left with too much defensive work to do.
Quansah has impressed on all of his first-team outings so far, and Liverpool will be assessing him to see just how big a role he can play from next season onwards.
Piero Hincapié (Bayer Leverkusen)
The agent of Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapié has told journalist Ben Jacobs that Liverpool ‘like’ the player but stopped short of suggesting the Reds would make an offer in January.
As it stands, the club is a distant admirer of the Ecuadorian center-back, having decided not to make a ‘serious offer’ in the summer transfer window. In hindsight, perhaps the rapid ascent of Jarell Quansah had some part to play in Liverpool’s thinking.
Manuel Sierra, the 21-year-old’s representative, adds that Liverpool would face plenty of competition, with ‘lots of clubs looking’, but insists his client is focused on Leverkusen for now.
Loïs Openda (RB Leipzig)
Liverpool ‘will be keeping an eye’ on RB Leipzig striker Loïs Openda, Bild journalist Christian Falk reports. Openda only arrived from Lens during the summer, but in two years’ time, a release clause in his contract will become active, one worth in excess of $85m (£69m/€80m).
Last summer, the Reds activated a similar clause to sign Dominik Szoboszlai from the Bundesliga outfit, which has previously sold them Naby Keïta and Ibrahima Konaté.
