Tim Vickery has backed Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to secure the transfer of Sao Paulo midfielder, Pablo Maia.
The South American football expert likened the 21-year-old to the recently-departed Liverpool legend Fabinho and how he can ‘sit in front of the defence’ and ‘organise the play’.
Vickery thinks that Pablo Maia is someone Sao Paulo know they will lose ‘sooner rather than later’ and that he is what Klopp is looking for, as he told Transfer Talk on Sky Sports News (17/08/23 at 12:25 pm).
As was proven during Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday, that defensive-minded midfielder is needed, with Fabinho and Jordan Henderson securing unplanned moves to Saudi Arabia this summer.
Whilst the team’s midfield needed reshaping, they didn’t probably plan for five midfield players to leave, including the free transfers of Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Either way, with the Reds keen to bring that defensive brain to Anfield this summer, Vickery has tipped them to go for Maia, if they can’t get another linked target, Andre Trindade.
“If they do want (a player) now and they can’t get Andre (from Fluminense), there is a player who is really flourishing in the last few months, which is Pablo Maia of Sao Paulo,” said Vickery.
“He is 21. You can see something of Fabinho in him, in the way he can sit in front of the defence and organise play and spray the player around.
“He is a player that Sao Paulo know they are going to have to lose him soon sooner rather than later. He is a possible for what Jurgen Klopp might be looking for.”
Life after Caicedo and Lavia
It has been well-documented that Liverpool wanted those two in their building, but they somehow managed to fumble it and allow Chelsea to nip in.
But the Reds aren’t wasting their time dwelling on that because they are closing in on a transfer from Germany, now that ‘Hendo’ aka Jordan Henderson is out of the door, they have decided to push for Wataru Endo of Stuttgart.
This is a smart move by the club because he is a typical Klopp player, he possesses power, energy and aggression that will make him a fan favourite at Anfield.
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