1 year ago
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Photo by Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images
Despite recent rumours that there will be no defensive departures this summer, Liverpool are set on signing a new centre half.
As the 2022-23 season neared its end, there was plenty of transfer chatter suggesting Liverpool’s midfield rebuild was set to extend to the defence with rumours that both Joël Matip and Joe Gomez could be set to depart in the summer.
Over the past week, that story changed. Now, the suggestion is that Matip will remain at the club for the final year of his contract before likely departing on a free next summer while Gomez will remain as a versatile homegrown depth option.
However, despite that a new centre half is set to arrive. At least that’s the story according to club-connected David Lynch, who rather bullishly sets the chances of the Reds signing a new positional player this summer at “100 per cent.”
If Matip and Gomez are set to remain for the coming season, though, it would potentially alter the target profile, allowing the club to move for a player who might not be expected to battle for a place in the starting eleven from day one.
That could mean that a player like 22-year-old Wolfsburg and Netherlands centre half Micky van de Ven would be even more appealing now for succession purposes—while a player like 27-year-old Benjamin Pavard might be less appealing.
