Rumor Mongering: Liverpool In For All The Center Backs

Ruben Semedo, Ozan Kabak, Ben White, and Dayot Upamecano are all
names that are being floated around by the press.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not typically one to
dive into the transfer market because of an injury crisis. Then
again, no one expected Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez to go down with season-ending
injuries within weeks of each other.

If the Reds can make it to January, and they’re still in
contention for one or more trophies, it might be worth the gamble,
especially considering the departure of fourth-choice center back
Dejan Lovren in the summer. The question then
becomes, “who?”

According to the various rumor mongers, there are no shortage of
contenders for Klopp and Michael Edwards to consider.

Ruben Semedo, the 26-year-old defender from Olympiakos, quickly
became linked to the Reds after Gomez’s injury. Given the recent
addition of former Olympiakos fullback Kostas Tsimikas to the
squad, this rumor might make some sort of sense. However, there is
a rather major consideration—one that would likely make him
decidedly not a “Klopp player”—his criminal history. In
2018 he was involved with two separate violent incidents, and even
ended up serving time in prison.

So, Semedo doesn’t seem likely.

Other sources point to Schalke’s Ozan Kabak, Brighton & Hove
Albion’s Ben White, and RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano.

The decision to not sign a Lovren replacement in the summer
seemed like a mistake at the time, and now we could really pay for
it.

There are 9 Premier League matches between now and the start of
the January transfer
window (including the January 2nd match against Southampton, for which any theoretical incoming player
would be ineligible to play).

If Liverpool are still within touching distance of the top of
the league, it might be worth splashing the cash for the right
player. Also, Liverpool’s success in the first three matches of the
Champions League Group Stage makes it very
likely that they will be playing in the knockouts, starting in
February.

So. Liverpool are probably at the very least looking at
defenders. Whether they are anyone mentioned above, a Mikey E
Special, or no one at all is anyone’s guess.