Liverpool’s defensive injury crisis has left the club in a rather troublesome position.
The Reds only have one fit senior centre-half at the moment in the shape of Joel Matip, but, as always, Jurgen Klopp seemingly has a plan up his sleeve.
Indeed, the German has previously hinted that he could use some of his midfielders at centre-back naming Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum as two players that could fill in there.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, but this radical switch could be a huge moment in Wijnaldum’s Liverpool career.
Klopp alluded to Javier Mascherano’s switch to centre-half in his final years at Barcelona. that switch gave the Argentine a new lease of life at Camp Nou, and there’s no reason why this change couldn’t do the same for Wijnaldum at Liverpool.
Mascherano was struggling to get in the Barca midfield ahead of the emerging Sergio Busquets around that time, but a move back into the defence extended his career at Barca and on the international stage.
Wijnaldum himself has reached something of a crossroads in his career, his Liverpool contract is up at the end of the season and the arrival of Thiago Alcantara has threatened his spot in the midfield pecking order.
The former Newcastle man has consistently been linked with a move away from Merseyside as his contract winds down, but a switch to centre-half could see his Reds career re-invigorated, much like Mascherano’s was at Barca.
The Dutch international has only played at centre-back once before, but everyone has to start somewhere, and this switch could give him a new lease of life at Anfield.
Of course, this all depends on Klopp’s plan coming off and Wijnaldum being a success in that role, but it is certainly an avenue that could be explored in the near future, and it could have a knock-on effect for the £75,000-a-week man’s long-term future.
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