Liverpool reportedly have their sights set on a Premier League player to replace one long-serving member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
According to The Mirror, the Reds have placed Marc Guehi at the top of their wish list to be Joel Matip’s long-term successor at Anfield.
The 32-year-old Cameroonian will be out of contract in the summer, so this could be the last of his eight seasons with LFC unless he’s offered new terms – a possibility the manager hasn’t discounted.
Nonetheless, Liverpool would ‘like’ to replace him with the Crystal Palace defender in the long run, although a move for the England international would probably have to wait until the summer unless a ‘silly-money offer’ is tabled in the final week of the January transfer window.
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Guehi has attracted rave reviews over the past 12 months, being dubbed ‘amazing’ by England colleague Harry Maguire (BBC Sport) and becoming such an important player for Palace that they’ve valued him at a minimum of £60m (Football Insider).
It’s a figure which might make Liverpool baulk, especially considering that, across a range of core performance metrics as evaluated by FBref, he ranks in the 60th percentile or lower in comparison to positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues over the past 12 months.
The 23-year-old had a decent if unspectacular game when he faced the Reds last month, contributing four clearances and two tackles, along with winning three of his five duels, but completing only 13 passes throughout the entire match (Sofascore).
Guehi has been linked with a possible move to Anfield in recent times with nothing coming to fruition, but he might be sought with greater ferocity if Matip’s contract isn’t extended this summer.
It could be worth keeping an eye on the Palace defender in the meantime to see if he’d be an ideal fit for Liverpool, even if it’d likely require a sizeable transfer offer to lure him from Selhurst Park.