Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has a long list of defenders ready as the club’s summer targets with the transfer window approaching. Despite scoring the highest number of goals in the league so far, the Reds are sitting at the third position in the league table and one of the major reasons for that is their faulty defence.
Liverpool have conceded 40 goals this season so far, which is the most among all the top seven clubs in the table. And it’s time Klopp realised that one cannot win every game by aiming to outscore the opponent in the Premier League.
Liverpool have often found themselves conceding three to four goals at the hands of mid-table clubs, which has cost them the points in the long run.
One main reason has also been the patchy form of Klopp’s defenders. Barring Joel Matip in the central defence, every player has come under extreme scrutiny and Klopp’s decision not to keep sufficient back-up for the back line has backfired.
Matip hasn’t got a suitable partner in either Dejan Lovren or Ragnar Klavan and the only other option, who was brilliant they realise now, was Mamadou Sakho. Owing to disciplinary actions, the Frenchman was benched for the first half of the season and sent on loan in the second half. Things would surely have been different if the towering defender took part in Liverpool’s games.
Klopp doesn’t seem inclined to bring him back and as per reports, he has identified Paris Saint-Germain’s Mahamadou Dembele as a suitable candidate to replace Sakho in the central defence.
The 18-year-old has earned rave reviews this season playing for PSG’s under age side, where he has even managed to get a goal.
His impressive form has earned him a call-in for France’s Under-19 team last year in August. He has played for them nine times since then.
In the UEFA Youth League, he has been a regular for the French capital side. Not only Liverpool, but a lot of other clubs are in the queue for his signature and what makes it all the more possible is his contract situation.
He is yet to sign the professional contract with his boyhood club and there is every chance he could leave the French side before the 2017/18 campaign. Paris Saint-Germain have the likes of Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and Presnell Kimpembe as their first choice and a chance for Dembele to get in is highly unlikely.
The 18-year-old would want to go to a club where he will get regular opportunities and develop, where Liverpool comes in.
