Michael Edwards’ return has seen Liverpool’s transfer activity shrouded once more in a seemingly impenetrable veil of uncertainty.
It’s how we like to see the Reds operate; leaving journalists and commentators alike fumbling in the dark for the faintest threads of a link.
So far, it’s clear to all that our interest in Lille’s generational defender Leny Yoro is 100% genuine.
The only issue, of course, is that Real Madrid are also very wedded to the idea of landing the player and their overtures have clearly struck a chord with the young Frenchman.
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Meanwhile, the Merserysiders have several in-house concerns to deal with – chiefly the contract situations of Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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What would an ideal July look like for Liverpool?
In an ideal world, Liverpool are signing a new right-sided winger, a holding midfielder, two quality new centre-halves and are extending a number of key contracts.
Perhaps that extends far beyond the realm of the realistic.
Attempting to navigate somewhere in between realistic and hopeful, we’ve landed on the club’s patience paying off with a move for Leny Yoro.
The 6’3 Ligue 1 footballer does, rather intriguingly, already have some significant experience playing as both the left and right-sided centre-back in a back four. Though, being right-footed, he’d probably be better suited to the right-sided role, unless he can follow in the footsteps of Virgil van Dijk (also right-footed).
As far as we’re concerned, the 18-year-old would need to seriously improve his aerial duel win rate before he could be considered a long-term successor for our No.4. FBref currently has his average aerial duel win percentage as 62.9% compared to Virgil’s 76%. Not a shocking disparity, it has to be said, but still significant. Ibrahima Konate, for instance, offers more aerial protection (with an average of 71.9%). This may, of course, improve with time.
Ideally, we’d like to see progress made on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s terms – a process that will be expedited if England fail to make it to the Euros final on July 14.
We suspect Van Dijk will be more than willing to open up talks on his future, but our No.66 is one player Richard Hughes and Co. must pull out all the stops for.
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