Liverpool could be forgiven for feeling like they are the only Premier League club not signing midfielders at the moment.
While the Reds boast 11 senior options following the emergence of 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic, and Juventus loanee Arthur Melo is the only one of those currently not fit, they are in need of a midfield revamp. Possessing quantity but not quality in their ageing, injury-prone squad, an overhaul is scheduled for 2023 as a result.
However, such plans are on hold until the summer with Jurgen Klopp reiterating throughout the month that Cody Gakpo will be Liverpool’s only new mid-season arrival. While the Reds are increasingly unlikely to qualify for next season’s Champions League, their form has not prompted that stance to change.
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp fumes with Mohamed Salah as Liverpool substitutes laugh at touchline incident
LIVE UPDATES: Bellingham claim, Konate injury, Sabitzer talk and latest transfer deadline day deals
The likes of Jude Bellingham and Matheus Nunes are well-documented to be targets for the summer, with Liverpool opting to wait for the right players rather than initiating such surgery with any available players right now. As a result, Kopites are left to watch on enviously, having lost faith in the Reds’ current options, as their domestic rivals seemingly all strengthen their own engine-rooms.
"It's all about what you can do,” Klopp explained to reporters earlier this month. “As well as what you want to do, but it's much more important what you can do…
"If the solutions for us would be out there, available and doable, of course we would bring in players to help… Yes, we have to strengthen. Oh yes, but is the right time to do it? I can't see it because of the situation we are in.”
When it comes to the likes of Bellingham and Nunes, neither player is available or doable in January. As a result, Liverpool wait. Fair enough, that is their right.
But such a stance is inevitably facing increasing scrutiny, and not just because of the Reds’ on-pitch struggles, as their domestic rivals strike deals for midfielders, finding deals of their own that are indeed available and doable.
In truth, only seven Premier League sides have signed new midfielders in January to date, but such a total looks set to rise on deadline day with Arsenal closing in on the signing of Jorginho from Chelsea, Manchester United reportedly inquiring after Marcel Sabitzer since losing Christian Eriksen to injury, Crystal Palace tying up a £10.5m deal for Stuttgart’s Naouirou Ahamada and looking to sign Albert Sambi Lokonga on loan, and the likes of Sander Berge and Conor Gallagher being linked with multiple destinations.
Liverpool themselves have been linked with both Berge and Gallagher, with speculation regarding the Norwegian dating back to Champions League clashes with Genk in 2019, and the Daily Mail claiming the Reds ‘like’ the Chelsea midfielder. Yet Anfield sources would continue to categorically deny the possibility of the club signing anyone on deadline day.
Meanwhile, the Reds have previous interest in both Jorginho and Sabitzer, ultimately opting to sign Fabinho ahead of the Italian in 2018, with the Austrian snubbing Liverpool’s advances when leaving RB Leipzig in 2021 in favour of a switch to Bayern Munich.
Elsewhere, the Reds were also linked with Weston McKennie and Joao Gomes prior to their respective mid-season moves to Leeds United and Wolves.
Clearly, all these players are available. Moving on for relatively modest transfer fees, or at least boasting asking prices akin to the initial £37m Liverpool spent on Gakpo at most, such deals were all doable too.
Arsenal are signing Jorginho for an initial £10m, rising to £12m with add-ons. Fulham are reportedly in talks over a £20m plus add-ons deal for Sander Berge, while Newcastle United are interested in a loan with an obligation to purchase in the summer. As for Gallagher, again there is loan interest while Everton are rumoured to have made a £45m bid only for the player to reject the move.
Leeds signed McKennie on loan from Juventus, with the deal containing an option to sign the United States international for an initial £30m in the summer. Meanwhile, Gomes cost Wolves £15m.
Clearly, it would have been feasible for Liverpool to move for any of the aforementioned players if they had desperately desired to strengthen their midfield mid-season. In the case of Jorginho, the 31-year-old could have added short-term quality at a cut-price fee. The fact they haven’t has reiterated a stance to wait for the likes of Bellingham and Nunes in the summer.
At the other end of the transfer fee scale, Chelsea are looking to sign Enzo Fernandez after agreeing to pay his £106m release clause. The World Cup winner was repeatedly linked with the Reds during the first half of the season, but they have never rivalled the Londoners for his signature. Again, their midfield revamp will wait until the summer, with the Argentina international seemingly not a primary target.
Midfielders have been available and doable but Liverpool haven’t made a move. Perhaps it is a case of once burnt, twice shy after their last-gasp loan signing of Arthur in August when facing similar scrutiny. Either way, such a decision is certainly not popular.
With the Champions League places looking increasingly beyond the Reds’ reach, they will have to live with the consequences of not strengthening further in January. Such a stance could even cost them future targets come the summer, though you would hope such stubbornness at least goes hand-in-hand with behind-the-scenes confidence to get their desired deals done.
But if after all this, Liverpool then fail to sign the players they have opted to wait for in the summer, at a time when they do become available and doable, even bigger questions will be asked by an already frustrated fanbase.
READ NEXT
Why Chelsea are spending millions on transfers and the big future risk Liverpool are avoiding
Darwin Nunez starts in new role with new-look Liverpool midfield on the cards
Joao Cancelo and Man City have just shown Liverpool exactly what they've done wrong
Jorginho transfer shows Liverpool decision they might have to make in midfield
Julian Ward putting plans in place for transfer window as Liverpool search for successor
