As per L’Equipe, Liverpool are interested in signing Mathieu Goncalves from Toulouse.
What’s the story?
With the transfer window just around the corner, the rumours are starting to multiply, and the latest player linked with a switch to Anfield is the 18-year-old defender.
According to the report, the Reds want to make the 5 foot 10 teenager their latest young signing after the captures of Sepp van den Berg and Havey Elliott during the summer.
A left-back is needed
The youngster is tipped for a big future, and made his debut for Les Pitchounes against PSG earlier on this campaign. In his first four appearances to date, he has not set the world alight, picking up an average WhoScored rating of just 5.98. But given he is at the very start of his career he has plenty of time to improve, and there must be a reason why he is already receiving playing time.
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This is the second left-back the Reds have been linked with in the last few days. 90min.com have recently reported that Liverpool are leading the race for Coventry City defender Sam McCallum, who has 11 starts this season in League One.
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It is quite obvious that a new recruit on that side of the defence is amongst Jurgen Klopp’s main plans. As it stands, Andrew Robertson is the only senior player in that role. In his absence, James Milner has been the man to step into the breach. He has the ability to do a job, but he is not a natural.
It is refreshing to see that it is a younger player that appears to be being targeted. By looking at players the start of their careers, it allows the 52-year-old boss to mould them into what he wants from them, rather than purchasing the end product. There are very few, if any full-backs in world football that play in the way Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold do – as their assist tallies from last year show – and that is a style of play that is so much harder to teach to an older head that has already made a name for himself in the sport.
Whether Goncalves or McCallum are signed remains to be sign, but one thing is clear: a left-back and youth are two things that are on Klopp’s wishlist.
In other news, Robbie Fowler says Liverpool will not commit one error that Manchester United did.
