The Liverpool transfer window has heated up with the potential signing of Bradley Barcola, which, if materialised, will be the Reds’ third record-breaking signing in the last two seasons. Liverpool broke the bank to sign Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, as the transfer fees for both of them exceeded £115 million.
Now, Barcola is priced by Paris Saint-Germain at €170 million, which comes to around £145 million. However, even if Barcola is ultimately signed to fill in the void created by Mohamed Salah’s departure, the Liverpool transfer window could still not be called a success.
Liverpool Transfer Targets: Why Defenders Need To Be Signed More Than Attackers
The Liverpool transfer targets should have more defenders than attackers after the departure of Ibrahima Konate. Virgil Van Dijk is 35 and cannot be expected to lead the defence throughout a marathon season. Joe Gomez is injury-prone, and the Reds have parted ways with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Jarrel Quansah recently.
In such a scenario, they will need to sign at least a quality defender, maybe more. They have signed Jeremy Jaquet from Rennes in the current transfer window, but the Frenchman is still pretty young and has not played in the Premier League yet. Hence, the Reds will need another centre-back to make up for the lack of experience and also give Van Dijk some rest when needed. It remains to be seen whether they take any action in this regard.
It has to be remembered in this context that Liverpool conceded 53 goals in 38 Premier League matches last season, which was the highest by any top club in the league. To put the matter into perspective, Arsenal, the league champions, conceded only 27 goals, and Liverpool’s defence often looked jaded, and it certainly did not help that Van Dijk was error-prone at times.
The fact that neither Isak nor Wirtz was able to make their mark was there for everyone to see. However, Liverpool’s disappointing season that led to Arne Slot’s sacking primarily resulted from their defensive frailties.
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Van Dijk has done a wonderful job for the Reds for close to a decade, but Father Time seems to have caught up with him. Liverpool will need to make a transition from Van Dijk, who can take Jaquet under his wings and help the team go forward.
In addition to that, the inconsistent performances of Jeremie Frimpong mean that the right-back position is not very assured either. Milos Kerkez did decently in the second half of last season, but the jury is still out on him.
Hence, the Reds could do with at least another centre-back and a full-back in the current Liverpool transfer window. Amid the hype created by the impending Bradley Barcola signing, the Liverpool transfer policy needs to take care of their defensive requirements as well.
The Reds will play UEFA Champions League football next season as well, and hence, they need to have enough personnel in their defence to take care of it. The Liverpool transfer window can only be called a success if they make more quality defensive reinforcements by the end of August.
With Andoni Iraola also heading into his first season as Reds boss, the jury will also be looking at him from the outset of the new season, as Liverpool look to bounce back from what was a poor campaign last time out.
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