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Jurgen Klopp’s perfect Liverpool midfielder has just been ‘listed’

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Liverpool are in need of a midfield makeover as their Champions League hopes are at risk and a suitable target has just been made available in Italy.

Calls for Liverpool’s midfield to be strengthened have only increased since the restart of the World Cup.

While the Reds certainly struggled before the break, injuries were part of the cause of those problems. Move to a mid-season training camp in Dubai, welcome players back after layoffs and retool in 2023 – that had been their contingency plan for months as they risk failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League increased.
It’s well documented that the Reds plan to revamp their engine room this year in the face of aging stars and expiring contracts, similar to their overhaul during the attack over the past 12 months. But for now, it appears those plans could be put on hold until the summer.

As it stands, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Arthur Melo will not be signed with the club after the end of the season. They clearly need more than one newcomer as part of this planned revamp.

Jude Bellingham is seen as Klopp’s first target, but Borussia Dortmund appear unwilling to let him leave in January. Liverpool know any pursuit by the England international could be determined by whether or not they finish in the top four. With such a goal currently unattainable, the Reds have shown in the past that they would rather wait for the right player than bring in a former player now just to fill a void. As a result, in anticipation of the summer, it’s understandable that Klopp admitted he doesn’t expect to ‘splash the cash’ in this month’s transfer window.

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Of course, Liverpool have already signed Cody Gakpo this winter, with the Dutchman joining PSV Eindhoven for an initial fee of £37million. Klopp admitted after signing that the deal could impact any future deal with the Reds in January.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic could be such a player. Contract expiring in 2024, reports in Italy have left Lazio frustrated with a lack of movement on a new contract, with the Serb having so far refused to accept an extension and saying he would be willing to let go as a result.

“I know all these things, that we don’t concede enough midfield goals, this and that, but what do we want? This ‘Golden Cow’ that really produces everything, including milk!

“We can do it. Where do you want to start? So Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Milner, Keita, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Fabio Carvalho, Oxlade-Chamberlain. “Now tell me what kind of player are we missing? Someone who is offensive, 1.95m and enters the penalty area to head the ball? OK, other than that!

“We have three players in the squad who can easily play as number six – Fabinho of course, but Hendo and Milly played well. Creativity? If we take just one player for that, we immediately make things more difficult for Harvey.” , Curtis and Fabio. Obviously they can all play in different positions, Curtis can play in one formation and Harvey and Fabio can play there too. Good.

“We can also play under a different system, where we may only need two midfielders, but then all these guys can play as number 10 in the new system. So where is the need for a midfielder? The day someone came He came to me and tell me exactly why.”

Naturally, Klopp has signed Arthur Melo on loan since those comments, while Elliott is the only one missing out of his ten options not to play so far this season due to injury. When you consider that most of those players are also out of shape and not at their peak, with allegations that aged players are in decline while the younger ones are too inexperienced and raw, it’s now widely accepted that Liverpool need a change now.

Yet Serbian is so much more. Nicknamed ‘the Sergeant’, the 27-year-old is a versatile player, capable of playing as a number six, number eight or 10. Combining attacking attributes with the height and physicality of a defensive midfielder, he has earned comparisons with Zinedine Zidane and Yaya Touré as a result, while also a leader having captained Lazio on occasion.

Set to turn 28 next month, Milinkovic-Savic will not be a long-term fixture in midfield for the next decade, in the way Bellingham would be. Still, he is currently enjoying his prime, which is a rare commodity in the engine room at Anfield, as only the out-of-contract Keita is in such a group. He has now made over 30 Serie A appearances every year since 2016/17, with his tally of 39 games in all competitions falling below 40 for the only time since.
A reported fee of £35m won’t break the bank and is in line with the original deal struck for Gakpo. In the meantime, this rent of 8.8 million.

With a deal said to have been agreed with RB Leipzig on Christopher Nkunku this summer, Chelsea see the Portuguese as the perfect second-best in attack as they try to get their season going again, with the Londoners also facing an uphill battle to qualify for the Champions League. If nothing else, he would be in a better position to have more impact at Anfield than Steven Caulker, Ozan Kabak, Ben Davies and Arthur Melo ever did.

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