Transfer scouting

An article by Matty

With the temperature dropping like a stone, the trees and leaves looking like a Bob Ross painting, and the Halloween candy already on display, October is definitely upon us. The league season is in full-swing, with Liverpool doing about what I expected so far. Struggling against the teams higher up in the table, beating the teams they’re supposed to beat, and looking on track for a nice top four finish. We’ve definitely shown flashes that we’re capable of more, but there really hasn’t been a whole lot of substance to it. Everything kinda looks as expected. The attack doesn’t quite fit together sometimes but the talent and depth makes it work beautifully. The midfield looks rejuvenated again, much more capable of creating chances this time around while playing Klopp’s signature gegenpress to perfection. The defense looks a bit old and creaky, the lack of a CDM glaring most days. Trent as the inverted fullback looks great on paper, perhaps not so much in practice.

Moving Trent into midfield initially sounds like a rather stupid idea. It would’ve made sense before we bought three young box-to-box midfielders in addition to Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott both taking steps forward in development. But the goalposts have seemingly changed for this team as we fully transition into a new Klopp era. If we want to truly compete on all fronts, you need quality backups at just about every position. Trent being thrown into the midfield would make him an even better player while also raising the levels of competition within the squad. It sends a message that unless you’re the world’s best in your position, your position in the starting eleven isn’t safe. We have the opportunity to make this squad the best in the world by a good margin. We should take such an opportunity to become the dominant team in England and possibly the world once more.

So then, you might ask, who should we sign to make this squad the best? Seeing as we really can’t rely on any CB at the moment other than Quansah, 2 new CBs look like a must sign. Matip and Gomez can leave to make room. A CDM is very much needed, as Endo isn’t ready, Bajcetic is still a bit too young, and Mac Allister just isn’t that type of player. Lastly, if we plan to scrap the inverted fullback idea and push Trent into midfield, a top tier RB will be required. And who knows, maybe we use Trent as the inverted in one game and this other RB as a more traditional fullback in the next. Squad depth, rotation, versatility in personnel and tactics. The names of the game nowadays.

At RB, it’s simple for me. There are two options. First, you could get Denzel Dumfries from Inter. He’s got everything you’d want. Excellent pace, brilliant technical ability, the size and instincts to defend 1v1, and nearly endless stamina to run up and down the flank all game long. We’d have Robbo on one side and a Dutch Robbo on the other. 27 years old, in the prime of his career. However, another option has emerged this season in Leverkusen that would fit even better.

Jeremie Frimpong has had quite the season under Xabi Alonso, playing just about everywhere. He’s been a right back, wing back, and winger in Xabi’s setup, playing wherever the manager wants him. His searing pace and technical ability make him a nightmare for the opposition to defend. 22 years old, Frimpong is just entering his prime and looks set for a move to a bigger club this summer. Perhaps Liverpool’s previous connection to Xabi Alonso looms large in a potential deal.

The CB discussion is an interesting one, partially because I’m not 100% sure what the club is looking for. Almost every CB we were targeting is a left-sided CB, mainly because their dominant foot is their left foot. Goncalo Inacio was the CB we were most heavily linked to, and it makes perfect sense. If we wanted to play with a back three or back four, he’s solid. And as we’ve seen with Arsenal and City, a left-foot dominant CB provides different passing angles that could prove beneficial. Inacio would definitely be on my radar because he’s got everything needed to be a top tier PL CB. Excellent passing range, good pace, he’s recently made his breakthrough into the starting lineup of the Portugal national team, playing alongside Ruben Dias and not looking remotely out of place.

However, we do need two CBs, and for the second one we should go back to the French Leipzig well and grab Mohamed Simakan. Simakan has had a bit of a breakout season this year, a young player seemingly capable of everything. He’s at the right age for a CB target, 23 years old, doesn’t have much of an injury history, and we already are very familiar with the club. He even fills the Gomez role with extensive experience at RB. A group of five CBs consisting of Konate, Simakan, Inacio, Virgil and Quansah gives us an embarrassment of riches and depth in the back line. Throw in Robbo on the left and Frimpong on the right and the defense would be a rock once more.

Of course I’d be remiss to not do some scouting within the PL itself. And one player that stands out is English CB Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace might be extremely mediocre but they’ve got some strong young talent that we could and should poach. Guehi is a bit on the smaller side for a CB, but not so small that it stands out, he’s a bit of a brute physically but has the technical ability to make the step up from Palace to Liverpool. He’s a bit of a raw player, according to the stats at least. But I think those stats would go up a bit in this team. He’s got the ability, he just needs the chance to prove himself at a big club and it might be a smart piece of business to give him that chance.

Lastly, the CDM spot. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about Andre, even though he’s not really my preferred option. He’d be best in a double pivot, both because of his lack of aerial ability and his play style. For me, he’s a similar player to Mac Allister or Thiago. A brilliant passer and dribbler, with a good work rate and decent defensive numbers. A strong progressive player that could fill the Gini role, now the Curtis Jones role, quite well. However I do tend to think the door is open at Madrid for a prodigal son to finally come home.

Aurelien Tchouameni turned us down for Madrid. Then he shot down rumors of a possible move to LFC in the summer. But like a scorned ex, I just can’t stop myself from looking at what could be. And I also look at Madrid’s midfield situation and wonder what he sees. Camavinga, Valverde and Bellingham are the future there. Arda Guler as well. Where exactly does Tchouameni fit there, other than as a backup? For me, Tchouameni is everything I could ask for from a CDM. Good aerial presence, good pace, excellent passing and dribbling ability, and occasionally an eye for goal. Double pivot or single pivot, he’s the man.

But since it’s unlikely Tchouameni raises enough of a complaint that Madrid would want to move such a talent, I have to come back to reality and try to find a CDM that fits. Problem is all the CDMs similar to Tchouameni are already taken. Rodri, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Yves Bissouma, Moises Caicedo. I guess you could give Spurs a call about Hojbjerg but that’s another short term solution. In this case, I guess just take the loss and go for Andre. He’s not my ideal option, but he’s really all that’s left. Perhaps an elite option emerges this season that we haven’t yet seen.

My pick for that “elite option”, which is a total shot in the dark, is another Palace player, Cheick Doucoure. Similarly to the previously mentioned Marc Guehi, Doucoure is a player who’s got the raw talent but needs a bit of refinement. Coach him up properly, though, and you’ve got quite a destroyer at the base of the midfield. And while his technical ability seems a bit lacking, there’s enough to work with regarding his long passes that you can make it work, especially when he’ll be surrounded by technicians in our new midfield setup. Palace wanted a pretty penny for him in the summer, so it probably won’t happen. But he might be the best option left at the table.

Well, that was fun. I kinda doubt we see this many signings next summer but it’s fun to think about how scary good this team would be with an overpowering level of reinforcements to a team already on the upswing. After a 2024 summer window like this, the main focus would be finding long term replacements for Salah and Robbo, but while they’re still at their peak you do what you can to keep them. Keeping healthy competition and constant squad renewal is the key to a machine that can compete on all fronts every season. And that is ultimately what the goal should be when we already seem somewhat close to achieving such an objective.