Liverpool 'position' towards summer transfer who can offer missing …
Liverpool’s reality is simple this summer. Jurgen Klopp desperately needs a revamp in the center of the park. Like a car engine in need of a service, his midfield has got old, it’s already sputtering, and the mechanic has given a final verdict: it’s no longer suitable for the road.
Especially for the road Liverpool want to be driving on. After all the success and the glory years under Klopp, this season has been a descent back to the turbulent chaotic years that came before it. And it’s imperative Liverpool does not ebb and flow in between this state.
A club of Liverpool’s stature simply have to aspire to be at and around Europe’s pinnacle every single season. The first step in reaching that goal is by replacing the midfield engine and starting anew. READ MORE: Liverpool may already have ideal fix who will cost nothing if Jurgen Klopp suffers transfer loss
READ MORE: Liverpool transfer ‘blocked’ as Nicolo Barella interest ‘stands out’ amid Jurgen Klopp praise In order to do that, Klopp and his recruitment team need to find several key pieces of the jigsaw. One of those might be Jude Bellingham, but he alone might not be enough to solve the problem.
He can only be a key cog in the engine. Another, according to French outlet RMC, might be Khephren Thuram. The report claims Liverpool is positioning itself towards making a summer transfer move for the 22-year-old Nice midfielder, who ticks a lot of boxes for the club.
Thuram has the kind of engine and composure on the ball Liverpool has been crying out for. Due to his towering stature and powerful frame, he often gets mis-profiled as a holding midfielder with strong defensive capabilities, and while he can be competent defensively, that’s not his ultimate strength.
Khephren Thuram is being linked with a move to Liverpool. (Image: Christian Liewig – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Thuram’s best ability is on the ball, instigating attacks through his passing but also by weaving past players and making long surging runs forward. To illustrate this, in the last calendar year, Thuram has ranked in the 97th percentile for progressive carries (3.31 per 90) and in the 92nd percentile for successful take-ons (1.55 per 90) among his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.
That’s his best asset. When in full flow he is difficult to stop, and Liverpool has been crying out for a midfielder of his ilk who can make runs from deep and draw out defenders in order to create space for the Reds’ attack. Klopp hasn’t had a midfielder like that for years.
Probably not since Georginio Wijnaldum, who was also capable of similar moments, and with whom Liverpool probably looked the most dangerous in the German’s time at Anfield so far.
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Thuram could finally bring that missing piece back to the club’s midfield, and for that alone he would be worth the investment. Still relatively young, the fact that he was recently called-up to the supremely talented French squad and was the second-youngest member in that squad during the last international break speaks volume of the kind of caliber of talent he is. Part of an incredibly talented footballing family, with his father a World Cup winner, and his brother a World Cup finalist, football runs in his blood, and Liverpool will struggle to find a better option in the market this summer.
Hopefully, the club ‘positioning’ itself towards a move will turn into tangible and direct efforts in the coming months ahead to lure him to Anfield.
