Liverpool have to act quickly in the window after missing out on Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
Liverpool may be poised to follow Brighton’s example in the transfer market after expressing interest in Carlos Baleba of Lille after failing to sign Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
The transfer rumors concerning Liverpool’s pursuit of midfielders Caicedo and Lavia came thick and fast last week, but the club was unable to match Chelsea’s financial might on both occasions.
The fact that Liverpool hasn’t found a defensive midfielder yet this season raises serious concerns about the club’s pressing need for one.
Brighton is one team that has done a better job than anyone else in recent years of replacing and replenishing their roster. Two years after purchasing Caicedo for a pittance of about £4 million, he has just become the most expensive British transfer of all time, and Brighton is already looking to sign his replacement just days after his sale.
The Daily Mail stated that Liverpool are one of the clubs interested in the highly-rated teenage midfielder from Lille. Now, Brighton has also expressed interest in Baleba and is prepared to pay £15 million in addition to add-ons for his services.
Although the 19-year-old is still very young, Liverpool may want to join the competition given Brighton’s continued success in the market. After all, they’ve recovered a tremendous sum of money from players who joined for a cheap fee before going on to become stars.
It’s the kind of transfer that Liverpool would have once been praised for. Michael Edwards and later Julian Ward worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure their transfer policy was the envy of all the other top teams in the nation and around Europe.
A few years ago, they were given the opportunity to purchase Enzo Fernandez for just £15 million after he just delivered an incredibly compelling man of the match performance against Liverpool.
They won’t want to repeat that error because he has since developed into one of the best young midfielders in the world, helping Argentina win the World Cup and smashing the British transfer record earlier this year.
Following Brighton’s low-risk, high-reward strategy isn’t something we generally see elite teams do, but at this moment, Liverpool might be desperate enough to do it given how tight the market for defensive midfielders currently appears to be.
