Walker Move Could Open Door for Pavard Transfer

Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images

The Reds might still be in the market for the Frenchman.

If Liverpool’s summer began with a need to replenish their midfield, the past week has done nothing to change that. Despite spending nearly £100m on Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the increasingly inevitable-seeming sales of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho mean that the Reds will have to dip into the midfield transfer market at least once, probably twice, before the summer is over, as Jürgen Klopp’s rebuild is prematurely accelerated.

Nonetheless, Trent Alexander-Arnold remains — assuming a year of League One work doesn’t qualify Conor Bradley for the role of backup — the only senior right-back on the squad, and, should a suitable player be available, Liverpool would do well to fill that particular gap on the team sheet this summer as well.

Benjamin Pavard was linked with a move to Merseyside earlier this summer as he had shown himself unwilling to extend his contract past the remaining year, and the Bavarians promptly went out and bought Kyle Walker from Manchester City. As such, Bayern are now committed to selling the Frenchman while he can still fetch a transfer fee, and are expecting bids from the Premier League, according to Christian Falk.

Long, rangy, capable of playing both centre-back and right-back, possessing tremendous passing, and still only 27, Pavard could represent outstanding value for money in a summer window that has seen transfer fees explode. Whether the Frenchman would be satisfied being the swing back-up for Ibrahima Konaté and Trent Alexander-Arnold is unclear, but if the Reds can convince him, it would solve one squad issue while conserving funds for the more lucrative midfield signings yet to come.