‘World-class’ talent wants to join Liverpool

Liverpool have a notable reluctance to confidently defend their Premier League title. This season and 2021/22, the Reds have struggled with wickets even after reaching the top of the table, and Arne Slott needs to find an answer quickly.

To be fair, the never-ending rut the club has been in this season seems to have faded. Liverpool are on a four-game unbeaten run, but it would be simply wrong to suggest they are back to their best.

With Mohamed Salah’s uncertain future rumbling in the background, FSG are ready to shore up their struggling champions with one or two winter signings.

However, it may not be in attack that Liverpool need to prioritize, but at the back.

Liverpool ready to sign centre-back

Ibrahima Konate’s contract expires at the end of this season, but there is no clear solution in sight yet. However, due to his disastrous season, Real Madrid ended their interest in the French centre-back.

More than a dozen errors have occurred. Combine this with the weakness in Konate’s build-up, exposed by the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold, and you see Liverpool desperately need a new elite partner to help out the aging Virgil van Dijk.

Last summer, Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi was that chosen man and now sporting director Richard Hughes is poised to return for him.

According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool remain in pole position for the Three Lions star and FSG are confident a deal can be completed given personal terms have already been agreed and the player is said to still consider Anfield his preferred destination.

But with Bayern Munich making a push, the Reds will need to make a bid of around £20m to sign him next month if they want to avoid any doubts before Gehi’s contract expires at the end of the season.

But Liverpool’s defensive crisis suggests that might not be the worst idea in the world.

Why Liverpool should sign Guehi in January

Guehi, 25, is one of Europe’s best centre-backs. In the four years since leaving Chelsea to join Crystal Palace, he has established himself as a “Rolls Royce of absolute defenders” with “world-class talent”, as academy coach David Matthews puts it.

The England star is now coming into his own and is aiming for a widely recognized elite status. Liverpool need to ensure they secure his services sooner than any other player, especially with the possibility of bringing back Van Dijk.

There is no denying that the Dutch captain has struggled this season, lacking his typical authority and arrogance at the back.

But then Liverpool’s dysfunctional system has fostered a lack of consistency, and Gehi could prove the upgrade Konate needs to reignite van Dijk’s fire.

The Eagles star’s ballplay is more expansive and dynamic than Konate’s and, alongside 34-year-old Van Dijk, he will help create a wider range of passing patterns than Liverpool fans have been treated to this year.

Comparing Guehi and Konate in this season’s Premier League, we can see that the Englishman has a higher quality of the ball, as well as being more combative and mobile in defending the backline. Remember, Palace have conceded just 12 goals in the league this season, with only Arsenal conceding more goals than them.

Forget the technical extras for a moment. Guehi is much calmer on the ball than his Les Bleus opponents, who have made so many mistakes this season.

With his progressiveness and intelligence when passing forward, Guehi could be the perfect partner for the veteran skipper. Although he is still one of the best centre-halves in the business, he is slowly improving and could work with a stable partner who complements his strengths and provides synergy to a wider tactical system.