Stuart Pearce has claimed that Liverpool needs to be ‘throughout’ a transfer for one Premier League defender this summer season.
Having already strengthened each full-back positions with the signings of Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, the main target for sporting director Richard Hughes now appears to have switched to the opposite finish of the pitch, with the Reds having reached out for Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike over the previous couple of days.
Nonetheless, the Premier League champions’ defensive recruitment mightn’t be completed simply but, with dependable reporter David Lynch stating earlier this month (through Sports activities Mole) that the Merseysiders have a ‘concrete’ curiosity in Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi.
Pearce: Liverpool needs to be ‘throughout’ a transfer for Guehi
Talking to Boylesports (through Liverpool Echo), Pearce insisted that Liverpool shouldn’t suppose twice about raiding the south London membership for the 25-year-old this summer season.
The ex-Nottingham Forest and England defender stated: “I really like Marc Guehi and I feel he’s now England’s first defender on the workforce sheet. I feel he’s in all probability a greater worldwide centre-half than he’s a Premier League centre-half, however he’s low upkeep.
“Taking a look at him, he performs with actual consistency and he reads the sport nicely. For me, I might be trying to get him out of Crystal Palace if he’s obtainable. In the event you’re Liverpool, to have him, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk – wow! I might take him all day lengthy.
“I feel what he does very well is he reads the sport when the ball is on the different finish of the pitch. For counterattacks and issues like that, as I’ve seen with England, you might need the ball for an extended time frame and also you want a central defender frequently studying the sport and having the tempo to get his workforce out of bother on the counterattack.
“I feel he serves that function. If I used to be Liverpool, if I used to be Newcastle, all of these groups, I’d be throughout him to try to signal him.”
(Picture by Alex Broadway/Getty Pictures)
Guehi may resolve a couple of potential issues for Liverpool in the event that they signal him
We share Pearce’s advocacy of the Reds making a transfer for Guehi this summer season, and never only for the explanations that he specified.
Jarell Quansah’s exit to Bayer Leverkusen leaves Arne Slot with solely three senior centre-backs, one in all whom (Ibrahima Konate) has been the topic of a lot hypothesis as he enters the ultimate 12 months of his contract, and it’s additionally diminished the variety of homegrown gamers in Liverpool’s squad.
Signing the Palace defender would cancel out each of these potential issues, and if our quantity 5 have been to depart within the subsequent 12 months, bringing in one other Premier League-proven operator in his mid-20s could be most advisable.
Lynch has hinted that Guehi would probably price someplace within the area of £40m-£50m for Liverpool, which sounds about proper for a participant of his equality who’s proven that he can excel within the English prime flight and is coming into what needs to be the prime years of his profession.
The Eagles will understandably battle laborious to maintain maintain of the 25-year-old, however the Reds may dangle the carrot of Champions League soccer and a believable risk of standard game-time in the event that they have been to make a proper method for the defender. Let’s see in the event that they take Pearce’s recommendation within the coming weeks…
