The future of Liverpool’s midfield looks like a blank canvas. Supporters may flex gallows humour at this point and suggest it has looked like one throughout this season too.
The composition of the squad and the performances they have delivered means that nobody in the centre of the team can feel that their position is safe for 2023/24. Twelve men have made at least one appearance in midfield in all competitions this season, yet they are virtually all either veterans or still in the early stages of their career, or if not they are out of contract in the summer anyway.
Nobody can be certain who will be here for the start of the next campaign, and even with those we can be reasonably sure about, whether they will be in Jurgen Klopp’s best XI is anybody’s guess. It would be foolish to entirely dismiss the possibility of a whole new midfield trio taking to the field in August.
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Liverpool will hope that Jude Bellingham makes up one third of it, no matter who else comes and goes after 2022/23 is complete. It’s natural to try to identify alternative options, as the England international will have his pick of the biggest clubs in the game and his price will reflect that.
Ruben Neves has been linked with the Reds and ticks a lot of boxes for their requirements: he’s of peak age, familiar with the Premier League, and out of contract in 18 months so not prohibitively expensive. The 25-year-old is not particularly like Bellingham, but could they complement each other if the Reds were able to secure both players?
Early indications are that they would work well together, at least if their data from FBRef provides any indication. On their scouting report, Neves is currently in the top 10 per cent of midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues for performance in 17 metrics over the last 365 days. They include several for passing, both over medium and long distances, as well as defensive contributions like blocking shots and clearances.
Bellingham is in the 90th percentile or better for 16 metrics, and this number should increase once the Bundesliga resumes following its winter break this weekend. The 19-year-old was in the leading group for 26 in October and 20 last month, so his lack of recent playing time has diminished his standing.
Only three of Neves’ leading metrics match with Bellingham’s. The latter has elite numbers for dribbling, drawing fouls, through balls and final third tackles, among other things. Where the duo align is on goal scoring and even then, they reached their performances in different ways. Where the Dortmund man has yet to score from outside the box in the big leagues, his counterpart at Wolves has struck nine of his 12 non-penalty Premier League goals from beyond the edge of the penalty area.
If we were looking for a third addition to the Liverpool squad, another linked player – Moises Caicedo – would bring different strengths once again. Although he is only in the top 10 percent of midfielders in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain for four metrics, none of them coincide with the best skills of Neves and Bellingham. The Brighton player has few peers when it comes to tackling dribblers or winning aerial duels, key skills when playing defensive midfield, and he has better figures in those areas than Fabinho over the last year.
Most Liverpool supporters would scoff at the idea of their club signing the trio of Bellingham, Caicedo and Neves this year, and rightly so. Even if they could all be acquired, Klopp is unlikely to immediately promote all three into his XI ahead of existing squad members.
However, by bringing different strengths to the party, they look as if they could work together in a midfield unit. At the very least, it’s possible to see which of the Reds’ existing players the potential new boys might best accompany. The future of many current Liverpool midfielders may even depend upon it.
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