An insight into Liverpool’s plans to bolster their midfield have been provided on Monday.
Liverpool currently have a wealth of central midfield options on their books.
Fabinho and Thiago are nailed on options in Jurgen Klopp’s midfield trio, whilst the remaining spot can be filled by Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott at present.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remains on Liverpool’s books, though his future does look to be away from Merseyside given how little playing time he has seen of late.
And whilst all of those above options are great for now, James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Thiago are all north of 30, meaning Liverpool probably need to start planning for the future.
And, according to the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool are drawing up a long-term plan to bolster their midfield department.
At present the two main names linked with Liverpool have been Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham has recently confirmed that he will remain at Borussia Dortmund next season, making a move for him this year unlikely:
“I will be here at Borussia Dortmund next season. I’m ready,” he said. “The only future I’m thinking about is the next game with Dortmund.”
As for Tchouameni, speculation has suggested he could be on the move at the end of this campaign, with a fee of around £50m being touted in various reports.
This would make the Frenchman the most viable option right now. However, as Tchouameni is a defensive midfielder, he would only really be able to play at the base of Liverpool’s midfield instead of Fabinho.
And as Fabinho still has a number of good years left in him, perhaps Liverpool would be better served waiting a season to try and snap up Bellingham, who is much more capable in a box-to-box role and would make a great replacement for Jordan Henderson.