With Joel Maip out with a long term injury, Liverpool are looking to improve their central defense in the January transfer window.
According to Football Insider, behind the scenes, Jurgen Klopp is pressing to secure the signing of a center back to reinforce the backline.
News – Klopp wants Liverpool to sign “dangerous” £26million player – Report
Moreover, earlier in the day, the news source exclusively revealed that French international, Maxence Lacroix, is the priority target at Anfield.
The second option is Portuguese center back, Goncalo Inacio, who has been rock solid in the defense for Sporting CP.
On the other hand, the last option is 20-year-old Sao Paulo defender, Lucas Beraldo, who is valued at around £20million.
As per The Mirror, Klopp has identified Lacroix, who could cost around £25million, to replace Matip at Anfield.
The 23-year-old has featured in 12 league appearances for Wolfsburg, who are currently in the mid-table in the German Bundesliga.
Matip has been a loyal servant at Anfield and was performing brilliantly in the central defense with captain, Virgil van Dijk, before getting injured.
In his absence, Konate has the quality and the experience to cover but even the Frenchman is injury prone and Gomez has mainly been a utility player this season.
Quansah is inexperienced and therefore, the depth must be improved by securing a center back in the January transfer window.
Have your say – Who should Liverpool sign to replace Matip? Should Klopp offer £25million for Maxence Lacroix?
Klopp admits Liverpool ‘lucky’ to come away with win at Palace
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted his side were “lucky” to leave Selhurst Park with three points as his side earned a dramatic 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Liverpool were second-best for much of the game and found themselves behind from a Jean-Phillipe Mateta penalty in the 57th minute. However, Palace forward Jordan Ayew was shown a second yellow card on 75 minutes and it sparked Liverpool into life, with Mohamed Salah scoring a minute later and substitute Harvey Elliott striking a superb winner in stoppage-time.
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“I am a very happy manager in this moment, and I know we were lucky as well. If you only win when you’re really good then you have no chance of being really successful, that’s just how it is,” Klopp said in his post-match news conference.
“Today was not a really good game from us. For 76 minutes, we put in a bad performance… Then they got a red card and we scored right after that — that’s all helpful. That is why I said we were lucky as well, definitely. But what we did from 76 [minutes] to 106 [minutes] was really good because as you know against 10 men you can have more problems than today. We really turned the game around; the subs were super influential.
“That’s actually the story so far of this season, the subs being impactful off the bench. If Harvey [Elliott] miss hits that ball it’s a draw, if Mo [Salah] is not there and the ball doesn’t get deflected then we lose the game. The last 15-20 minutes we deserved it, before that we deserved nothing.”
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