According to The Athletic, Liverpool wanted to sign Samuel Umtiti from Barcelona in the January transfer window.
It has been reported that Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards made ‘numerous enquiries’ about centre-backs.
The report has claimed that the defending Premier League champions ‘briefly considered’ Umtiti, but the 27-year-old central defender ‘was reluctant’ to leave Barcelona and move to the Merseyside club.
Liverpool did bring in two centre-backs on transfer deadline day. Ben Davies joined from Preston North End, while Ozan Kabak moved on loan from Schalke.
No big miss for Liverpool?
Umtiti has been on the books of Barcelona since 2016 and is rated very highly by his teammate and footballing legend Lionel Messi.
Messi told the January 2018 edition of World Soccer: “[Umtiti] trains in the same way he plays. He doesn’t leave anything in reserve; he’s an excellent person away from the pitch as well. Seeing how he trains, I’m not surprised at what he does in matches, I see all his qualities.”
However, the 27-year-old has had injury problems at Barcelona, and it would have been a risk for Liverpool.
Davies and Kabak are good defenders who would be able to do a good job in the short term.
Once Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez return from their injuries, they should go straight into the starting lineup.
According to WhoScored, the 27-year-old has made three starts and two substitute appearances in La Liga and has played 35 minutes in the Champions League for Barcelona so far this season.
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