Liverpool have been left cursing Real Madrid in the transfer market on more than one occasion over the past 18 months.
When plotting their midfield revamp, Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham were both on their radar in 2022 and 2023 respectively. And while their flailing fortunes last season, highlighting a need for more than just one marquee addition, contributed to missing out on the latter, both players still made it clear that they favoured a switch to the Bernabeu over Anfield.
The Reds completed a belated £150m overhaul of their engine-room in the summer regardless, snapping up Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch. With Jurgen Klopp’s side currently top of the Premier League table through to the League Cup semi-finals and Europa League round-of-16 as we head into 2024, club bosses can at least rest easy that they satisfactorily revamped their midfield despite having to identify new favoured targets.
In the mid and long-term, there is an argument that such an overhaul is not yet complete. Question marks remain over Liverpool’s options at number six, despite Endo’s eye-catching performances in recent weeks, while the often injury-plagued Thiago Alcantara is out of contract next summer. The Japan international’s imminent departure to the Asian Cup next month will only heighten such scrutiny.
Yet with club sources last month distancing the club from the possibility of making a mid-season move for former target Andre Trindade, any further surgery is seemingly not a priority. Instead, the Reds’ defence is perhaps the position in most need of further reinforcements.
Klopp admitted last May that the club were in the market for a new centre-back, only for such a move to fail to materialise as the unexpected departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia resulted in the club prioritising further midfield recruits instead. The desired profile of choice was a young, left-sided defender who could also play at left-back in the club’s new hybrid formation featuring an inverted right-back in Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Impressively, Liverpool have not, yet at least, been made to rue not signing such a player despite losing Andy Robertson, Joel Matip, and Kostas Tsimikas to long-term injury. Joe Gomez’s return to form, capable of playing anywhere across the back four, and the emergence of Jarell Quansah have helped manage such absences. But even with the Scotland captain due back next month following a three-month lay-off with a dislocated shoulder, Klopp’s ranks are down to the bare bones and on the cusp of an injury crisis.
After seeing Tsimikas join Robertson on the sidelines before the festive period after breaking his collarbone against Arsenal, the benefit of signing that previously-desired left-sided defender appears even more apt. Yet with calls for Trent Alexander-Arnold to complete his transformation into a midfielder growing by the week, there is an argument for the Reds also requiring a further option who can play both centre-back and right-back.
Klopp had dismissed the possibility of turning to the transfer market to sign a new centre-back in January after losing Matip to a season-ending ACL injury at the start of the month.
“Everyone talks about us needing another player but they all cost money and they must be the right player,” he would tell reporters. “You tell me a club who wants to sell a top centre-half. Not a centre-half but a top centre-half.
“For four or five days we’ve known Joel will be out for a long time and that’s really bad for us but we still have four centre-halves and that’s absolutely alright. If we had a fifth centre-half in beforehand it is a completely different team dynamic: when one is not involved, we don’t see steps with him, so it was like it was and it was perfect.
“Is it now perfect? I would say it is as long as we can go with those four, yes. If not then it would be a bit more tricky with the amount of games coming up. But it was never wonderland where you bring in a world-class centre-half until the other one is fit again.
“As long as other clubs don’t put them under the Christmas tree for us and say, ‘Take it as long as you need it,’ I don’t think so (it is likely to buy a player) to be honest.”
With the January transfer window opening in less than 48 hours’ time, we’re about to find out if Klopp intends to stand by that stance.
Of course, if Liverpool were to pursue a new defender, it would not be a short-term fix. While the absences of Robertson, Matip, and Tsimikas have added the strain on their remaining ranks, the Reds arguably remain in need of a new defender regardless. The Cameroonian is out of contract next summer, after all, while the Scot will join both him and club captain Virgil van Dijk on the wrong side of 30 before the season is out.
Having revamped their attack and midfield in recent years, sooner or later Klopp’s defence will be the subject of similar surgery. But this is where Liverpool could find themselves up against Real Madrid in the transfer market once again.
Both clubs looked to overhaul their engine-rooms at the same time over the past 18 months, with the La Liga giants coming out on top when it came to landing Tchouameni and Bellingham. But now the attention of both sides is turning to their defences, with Carlo Ancelotti’s need arguably even greater than Klopp’s.
Real Madrid boast four senior centre-backs in Eder Militao, David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, and Nacho Fernandez. Yet the former is out injured until next spring with an ACL injury, while the remaining three are all on the wrong side of 30.
Alaba would suffer the same injury earlier this month against Villarreal to deplete Ancelotti’s options further, while Nacho, who is also out of contract next summer, was sent off in Real Madrid’s last outing before the La Liga winter break against Deportivo Alaves. Consequently, Rudiger is currently their only available senior centre-back ahead of their return to action in the New Year.
Elsewhere, right-backs Daniel Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez are also both on the wrong side of 30, with the latter out of contract next summer, while left-back remains a problem position for Ancelotti’s side.
Fran Garcia has played there more often than not this season after the 24-year-old rejoined the club in the summer from Rayo Vallecano. Having blown their transfer budget on Bellingham, Real Madrid activated his €5m buyback clause, with such deals along with free transfers, loan signings, cut-price fees, and returning loanees repeatedly required to bolster the rest of their squad alongside singular ‘Galatico’ arrivals.
Ferland Mendy is their other proven option, but the 28-year-old’s recurring injury woes are what makes left-back a problem position at the Bernabeu in the first place. Elsewhere, both Eduardo Camavinga and Alaba have had to fill in out of position in the role.
To sign a ‘top centre-half’ in January is difficult, but when Real Madrid are in need of doing the exact same thing, it becomes even harder with Liverpool’s own potential pursuits complicated as a result. At least mid-season, the Spanish heavyweights have seemingly already spent the bulk of their latest warchest, with the Reds’ hand currently stronger as a result.
But consider the desire for a young, versatile option who can also play full-back, and it’s trickier once again. Clearly an available quality option mid-season is a rare commodity.
If Ancelotti looks to strengthen his depleted defence in January, it is perhaps understandable why Klopp might wish to hold off and reassess Liverpool’s situation in the summer when the market is more forgiving. But in doing so, the Reds would risk a repeat of their failed Tchouameni and Bellingham transfer sagas. Either way, they are playing with fire.
Liverpool at least found a way to revamp their midfield successfully despite losing out on their first-choice targets to Real Madrid. Such business has made their Premier League title-contenders once again, with any possible January signings having the potential to enhance that position.
But as Klopp’s Reds continue to re-establish themselves on the pitch, only time will tell if Liverpool are ready to send a statement of intent and compete with Real Madrid off it, having already been burnt twice before.
