Liverpool will be forced to consider alternative transfer targets to bolster their backline after Gleison Bremer suffered a season-ending injury.
Fabrizio Romano reported on X (formerly Twitter) that the Juventus star will sadly be sidelined for the season after tearing his ACL during a Champions League tie with RB Leipzig.
Juventus Brazilian defender Gleison Bremer has torn his ACL with meniscus involved and he will miss the rest of the season.
Get well soon, Gleison! pic.twitter.com/QnKdLuki1B
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 3, 2024
The Merseysiders were understood to be keen on adding to their available centre-back options in the summer transfer window, though failed to get a signing over the line.
Any hopes of Richard Hughes and Co. revisiting the possibility of a move for Bremer (whom Football Insider claims was a ‘top target’ for the new sporting director) in the winter, however, have now been firmly shattered.
Arne Slot’s side has been fortunate, thus far, to have avoided a serious injury crisis. Especially given their ongoing reliance on Virgil van Dijk on the left side of the defence. That’s without considering Ibrahima Konate’s chequered injury history and the relative inexperience of Jarell Quansah (21).
Likewise, there remain question marks over the long-term future of Joe Gomez in light of our reported willingness to trade in the England international in an attempt to facilitate a transfer for Anthony Gordon.
Regardless, it’s understood that Liverpool are prioritising the signing of a defensive midfielder and a left-sided centre-back in the January transfer window.
In that case, we probably wouldn’t have been inclined to push for the signing of the 27-year-old given his preference to play as the right-sided centre-half.
Still, it’s a shame to have the option off the table and to see such a talented player sidelined.
We’re wishing Gleison the speediest of recoveries!
Ideally, we’d like to see Liverpool focus on a left-sided centre-back who could, effectively, shadow Virgil van Dijk.
We’ve seen plenty in the way of links to Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi since the summer and the Englishman is understood to be keen on a move to Merseyside.
That said, we’ve got serious doubts about the Selhurst Park star’s credentials as a potential successor to our No.4.
The Palace defender’s aerial prowess (averaging 56.2% in aerial duel success) isn’t comparable to Van Dijk’s (averaging 75.8% in aerial duel success) for one, according to stats collected by FBref. Likewise, you just don’t get anywhere near the same level of reliability on the ball (50th percentile for pass completion) or creativity (74th percentile for shot-creating actions).
We realise we’re asking for a lot from a potential centre-back signing. However, the simple fact remains that ordinary simply won’t cut it in the same sentence as Liverpool’s skipper.
Any potential target in that regard has to blow us away. Fortunately, our recruitment team is very well-equipped to find such a target.
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