It’s no secret that Liverpool need centre-backs in January.
Virgil van Dijk won’t play again this season and Joe Gomez is out for the foreseeable future after undergoing knee surgery last week.
That leaves Reds boss Jurgen Klopp with Joel Matip as his only recognised central defender, although Fabinho has impressed there in the past.
Thing is, Matip is injury prone and not having Fabinho in midfield makes Liverpool markedly less of a force than they were last season, when they cruised to the Premier League title.
The German manager also has a couple of rookie centre-backs who he has been playing as of late – Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips.
And according to David Ornstein, Klopp intends to stick with what he has for the rest of the season.
The English journalist has claimed that Liverpool have no plans to sign any reinforcements in January which might well upset some fans of the Anfield club.
He told The Athletic’s channel on YouTube: “My understanding of their current thinking is that they don’t plan to enter the January market for a centre-back or any other position if at all possible. They would like to go with existing options. They won’t be ruling anything out but as far as I know their thinking is more geared toward the summer of 2021 and those plans are already well underway.”
If true, this is such a risky plan for Klopp.
Williams and Phillips have done okay since coming into the senior side but, honestly, surely Liverpool can’t be relying on those two to help them defend their title.
Matip, as he has proven, can’t be trusted to stay fit, through no fault of his own, and Fabinho is himself is even injured right now, too.
Klopp absolutely needs central defenders otherwise their title defence might turn out to be something of a damp squib.
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