Liverpool supporters have been pissed off by Manchester City‘s sharp effectivity this month. The four-in-a-row champions have acted incisively to deal with evident considerations inside Pep Guardiola‘s squad whereas latterly tying Erling Haaland right down to a rare new contract, legitimate till 2034.
Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been free to debate pre-contract agreements with suitors abroad for the reason that flip of the brand new yr, whereas discontent grows round a supposed dearth of depth throughout the backline.
It is hardly all doom and gloom. Arne Slot‘s facet perch atop the Premier League with a four-point lead over Arsenal, holding a sport in hand at that.
Prime of the Champions League group part and nonetheless in each home cup competitions, the Reds are trying to find silverware this season and have a gifted and balanced squad that may obtain the lofty objectives.
Nevertheless, Metropolis’s latest motion serves as a reminder to FSG and Richard Hughes that they should ramp up the fuel, lest this glorious place flakes away over the enterprise months of the marketing campaign.
Andy Robertson, for one, wants changing.
Why Liverpool want to interchange Andy Robertson
An amazing participant, one in every of Liverpool’s best since his smart £10m signing in 2017, leaving Hull Metropolis, Robertson has loved a profitable profession as one in every of Europe’s superlative left-backs.
He is nonetheless solely 30, however the Scotland skipper is discernibly regressing by way of athleticism, focus and creativity, three staples of his talent set.
His understudy, Kostas Tsimikas, has a wonderful eye for a move however is clearly unfavoured by Slot because the beginning choice, so Liverpool want to deal with this downside going ahead. The Athletic’s James Pearce issued a realistic response on the matter, claiming that signing a brand new left-back is excessive on the to-do listing however unlikely to be resolved this month given that there’s present depth.
Robertson, nonetheless, has persistently discovered himself on the scene of the crime this time period and lacks the technicality and confidence that when established him as a world-beater.
Liverpool do have a successor in thoughts and should push to finish a deal this month.
Liverpool’s left-back search
As reported by Italian outlet Solo Lecce earlier this week, Liverpool have entered the race for Lecce full-back Patrick Dorgu, becoming a member of Premier League rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
It is understood that Liverpool’s admiration has grown with rapidity and that FSG chiefs have already ready a €40m (£34m) provide for the Denmark worldwide.
Dorgu, solely 20, has impressed Liverpool scouts together with his energy and power, additionally exhibiting versatile traits that might see Slot will him right into a form of his selecting going ahead.
What Patrick Dorgu would deliver to Liverpool
Dorgu is one in every of Italian soccer’s brightest younger skills, already chalking up 55 senior appearances for Lecce, scoring 5 objectives, since incomes his stripes in FC Nordsjælland’s academy in his homeland.
Presently plying his craft in Italy, Dorgu might show to be Slot’s personal Salah signing, with the Egypt sensation becoming a member of Jurgen Klopp‘s Liverpool from Roma for a £34m fee in 2017, the identical window as Robertson, and happening to score 232 goals and set up 105 more throughout 378 appearances, successful the complete gamut of trophies (Europa League however).
Dorgu has proven flashes of high quality however might realise his full potential with Slot’s Liverpool challenge starting to hit full swing, much like Klopp’s facet means again when, with Salah serving because the attacking catalyst and nonetheless carrying that burden to at the present time.
The rising star, in any case, has already been hailed as an “elite staff participant” with “immense physicality” by one analyst, so there’s each purpose for Liverpool followers to get excited, for he might develop into one of many best defenders competing on English shores.
|
Patrick Dorgu – Lecce Stats by Place (24/25) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Place |
Apps |
Targets |
Assists |
|
Proper winger |
10 |
3 |
0 |
|
Left-back |
5 |
0 |
1 |
|
Left winger |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
Proper-back |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
Stats by way of Transfermarkt |
|||
As you possibly can see above, Dorgu is likely one of the most positionally versatile gamers in Serie A, and whereas he is discovered comparative prolific success on the precise wing, Lecce supervisor Marco Giampaolo, who was appointed in November, has moved him again right into a extra typical left-back position.
That is constructive, proving that Slot, one in every of Europe’s superior tactical minds, might sculpt Dorgu to his personal design, although it is possible that the younger gun will proceed to offer assist throughout a variety of roles, skirting away from being pigeonholed into one tightly-held class.
Anyway, as per FBref, Dorgu ranks among the many prime 9% of Serie A wingers this season for tackles, the highest 7% for interceptions, the highest 5% for clearances and the highest 9% for aerial battles received per 90, illustrating the robust defensive software that stays with him even when fielded in offensive conditions.
There’s hope that an settlement can be struck and Liverpool will lengthen Salah’s keep on Merseyside. If that is to be the case, Slot will not be going to wish a first-class substitute simply but.
However in Dorgu, he might land his personal Salah signing, killing two birds with one stone. The full of life Dane might show to be the right Robertson substitute going ahead, however his confirmed success as a moonlighting proper winger has made a convincing comment on the dynamism that’s virtually custom-made for Slot’s fluid system.
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