Liverpool look like being genuine title contenders once again this season.
After a miserable campaign last time out, things are considerably rosier for Jurgen Klopp and co right now. There’s just one problem: they need a defensive midfielder.
So far, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo have been the men given those particular keys by Klopp. But although both have done okay, Mac Allister is clearly more useful further up the pitch, while there are legitimate question marks over Endo’s suitability.
There have been suggestions that Stefan Bajcetic has been slated for the role when he returns from injury. But a little like Mac Allister, we think Bajcetic is more of an 8 than a 6. As a result, it’s clear to us that the longer-term answer lies outside of the current Liverpool squad.
That leaves two options for the Reds. Number one, they look into signing someone in the transfer window. Andre Trindade has been mentioned plenty and could still happen. However, it sounds like that isn’t necessarily something Liverpool want to do this year.
The second is to promote or bring through a youth player. In that respect the most obvious candidate would be Tyler Morton. Although he’s currently out on-loan and doing well in the Championship with Hull City, if there’s an option to recall Morton then Liverpool should take it.
Morton ready for Reds task
We don’t want to be harsh on the two lads filling in for Liverpool right now, but for different reasons they’ve shown that they aren’t the long-term solutions.
Mac Allister will surely be desperate to show his best self in a more free role, while at 30 Endo is simply a stop-gap and not an altogether convincing one at that.
So, instead of shoehorning either into the side, why shouldn’t Jurgen instead bring Morton back?
Some will roll their eyes and question why, if Mac Allister or Endo aren’t good enough, the 21-year-old suddenly is. That’s a fair question, but it would also be to ignore that Morton was prepped for this. He learnt off Fabinho while he was still at the club and excelling during 2021/22.
Having spent a season with Blackburn Rovers last year, he should now be a more physical proposition than he was when he last played for the Reds.
There were reports that Klopp was keen to take a look at Morton in the first-team this summer, before injury struck. Even after that, Liverpool reportedly planned to use him until Ryan Gravenberch was signed. We’d wager that if the youngster had been fit all summer, then he would have stayed.
It may not be a glamourous solution to a problem that is consuming Liverpool. But just like with Jarell Quansah and the Reds’ apparent centre-back shortage, the answer can often lie in the academy.
Morton showed that he has the potential to be good enough as a teenager. Now that he’s mixing it in a tough league week-in-week-out he should be more ready than ever. Bring him back and let him have a run, what’s the worst that could happen?
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