After his former club ended as Champions League runners-up to the mighty Reds, former Tottenham striker Darren Bent has made some flattering comments about the Reds’ chances of signing Matthijs de Ligt.
“They may go out and surprise everybody and go and get De Ligt, Virgil’s Dutch team-mate,” Bent theorised on Sky Sports News via The Express.
“If they can manage to pull that one off and those two can play together, that would be brilliant.”
It’s a theory that has been doing the rounds for months now, with the future of the 19-year-old Ajax captain still up in the air. Of course, he’s an absolutely brilliant defender but will he come to the Reds?
Or, more pertinently, do we need him to come? With Joe Gomez fighting fit now, he and Virgil van Dijk together make the best centre-back partnership we have at the club (sorry Matip).
De Ligt would be a valuable addition, of course he would, but we already have Joe Gomez and its fairly clear that conceding goals is no longer the bugbear it was in the past.
Besides, it seems like he’s set to make a move from the Eredivise for Ligue 1 or La Liga anyway.
“You’re happy with what they’ve got, you can always strengthen somewhere. Where? You don’t know, obviously going forward they’re brilliant,” Bent continued.
“Midfield it seems like they’ve got so many in there that can play. [Georginio] Wijnaldum, Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson and then [James] Milner slots in there.
“Obviously at the back [they’ve got] Virgil, [Joel] Matip, [Dejan] Lovren, Andy Robertson, [Joe] Gomez, Trent [Alexander-Arnold]. They’ve got players everywhere to be fair
There’s really not too much more we can do to improve on the squad in what has been a hugely successful campaign: 97 points in the league and a Champions League trophy. Not too shabby!
“I’m sure Jurgen Klopp is probably looking at something,” Bent surmised.
“At the moment you would say they are full strength. But I’m sure Jurgen Klopp is probably looking at one or two areas where he’d like a bit more cover.
“With Daniel Sturridge going maybe they need to get another centre-forward in just to backup [Roberto] Firmino.
“Maybe that’s one area he might look at but other than that it’s tough.”
Well, we’ve potentially already got another teenage sensation for that in Rhian Brewster, who Klopp obviously thinks very highly of. We’ll still need to sign a versatile, senior attacker, however.
Exciting times for next season, Reds. We’ve got a great squad, No. 6, and more trophies to win!