James Pearce shares what he’s heard from Liverpool about January transfer business
James Pearce’s contact with Liverpool insiders indicates that a left-back signing is highly unlikely in January.
This update comes amid injuries to senior left-back options in Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas.
That said, the Merseysiders are expected to be open to the possibility of conducting business in the winter window on the proviso of the right profile being available at the right price.
“At the moment, everything is very quiet on that front. It’s certainly a very different situation to last year,” the Athletic reporter spoke on the Walk On podcast.
“What I will say is, I think from recent transfer windows in January related to Liverpool, we know that if a suitable opportunity arises, they will move quickly and decisively to get that deal done if they think they can get the right player at the right price.
“I think back to two years ago, probably sat around here at the same time saying, ‘I think it’s going to be quiet’ and then, of course, Porto desperately needed money. Liverpool had intended to sign Luis Diaz the following summer.
“Tottenham were close to agreeing a deal, Liverpool had to either say, ‘right it’s now or never’, mobilised quickly, got Luis Diaz onboard… things can change.
“Like I said before, it’s almost like the defensive issue at the minute. The people I’ve spoken to have said – I think Liverpool have been linked with Robinson, the fullback at Fulham – and when you check that out, you’re told, ‘why on earth would we sign another left-back when hopefully Robertson will be back by the end of January?’
“You can’t just stockpile senior left-backs when you’ve got Kostas Tsimikas to return backend of February maybe March time.
“Then getting Robertson back will free up Joe Gomez to play centrally and ease the burden on Konate and Quansah and Van Dijk.
“But of course one injury to another centre-back now… the debate about whether Liverpool can wait until the summer to strengthen at centre-half then almost becomes redundant, because it suddenly then becomes they can’t afford not to address it now.
“I think it’s very fluid; clearly if they thought there’s someone out there of the right quality where a deal could be done at a decent price, defensively, then I think they would have had that already lined up, it would be out there already.”
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Liverpool doing as Liverpool do
It shouldn’t come as an overwhelming surprise to see the club resting a finger very gently on the transfer trigger.
There’s every possibility, as Pearce rightly noted, that our current injury list could ease up somewhat in the coming months, which would leave ample time for Liverpool to line up their top targets for the summer.
It’s a gamble, of course, on the injury-prone Ibou Konate remaining fit and on Joe Gomez maintaining his form as Jurgen Klopp’s utility man across the backline.
It could pay off for us, but we’ll be kicking ourselves if it doesn’t at a time when the league title is very much up for grabs.
Hold your nerve, Liverpool.
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