Neil Jones has suggested that Liverpool would love to bring in players who could emulate what Pep Guardiola has done with two members of his Manchester City squad.
In his exclusive column with CaughtOffside, the reliable journalist addressed a series of transfer rumours and questions regarding potential incoming business at Anfield this summer, including possible changes to Jurgen Klopp’s defence.
The reporter outlined that the Reds would be yearning to sign defensive options who can cover multiple roles, just like two players in particular have done at the Etihad Stadium.
Jones wrote: “If you look at what Manchester City have done really successfully in the last few seasons, they’ve been able to get players in who can play two positions in the back line, so Nathan Ake can fill in at centre-back or left-back, Manuel Akanji has played all across the back line, and I think Liverpool would love to get someone in who can do that.”
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Versatility in a player is a trait any manager would cherish, and Klopp has had that with some current and previous members of his Liverpool squads.
Joe Gomez has shown that he can play anywhere across the backline, while James Milner often filled in on either flank of the defence during his time at the club before departing for Brighton recently.
However, aside from the 26-year-old, none of the Reds’ other defenders could seamlessly slot into positions other than those with which they’re most familiar, which could pose a dilemma if several players at the back are unavailable at the same time.
We saw during the 2020/21 season how a defensive injury crisis forced Klopp to utilise midfield duo Jordan Henderson and Fabinho as centre-backs, a situation no Liverpool fan would want to see repeated. That’s not a criticism of those two, but rather an indictment of how thin the squad had become at the time.
The two examples cited by Jones are quite pertinent, with Ake regularly moving over to left-back in recent months and Akanji also able to be deployed on either flank in addition to his customary centre-back role.
Benjamin Pavard and Micky van de Ven are among the defenders to have been linked with Liverpool lately, and both the Frenchman and the Dutch youngster have shown the flexibility to fill multiple defensive positions if needed.
Unfortunately, Jones downplayed the former as a realistic signing this summer, although he talked up the latter as ‘a name to look out for’ (CaughtOffside), so perhaps the Wolfsburg man could offer Klopp that much-desired versatility at the back in the same mould as the aforementioned Man City duo.