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Liverpool are in “advanced talks” for January signing and he’s “the best in Europe”
As we all know, Liverpool need a new centre-back.
Joel Matip’s injury has advanced the timeline to sign a replacement for the Cameroonian. Initially, he was set to be replaced in the summer when his contract expires.
Now, that could happen this month. The January transfer window presents the opportunity to sign someone like Goncalo Inacio.
The Reds are said to have submitted a bid to sign him although that hasn’t been corroborated by more reliable sources closer to the club.
If Liverpool want to sign an even younger talent than the 22-year-old, they could proceed with reported “advanced” talks with Lille to sign Leny Yoro but the Ligue 1 club wants around £78M to release him.
Leny Yoro is posting numbers more impressive than Virgil van Dijk
According to Wyscout, Yoro is one of the best defenders in Europe despite his tender age of 18.
The French defender reportedly wins an astonishing 83.82% of his duels with an average of 4.24 per 90.
If that’s not impressive enough, no defender in Europe’s top five leagues has won more aerial duels than Yoro, including Virgil van Dijk. He wins 80% of his aerial duels with an average of 2.49 per 90. The best.
That said, van Dijk is once again setting records for how difficult he is to beat.
Data from WhoScored suggests that of the 353 players in Europe that have attempted 25+ tackles this season, only van Dijk has a 100% success rate.
That’s simply ridiculous. To be doing that in the fast-paced Premier League defies reason.
Liverpool could do a lot worse than signing Yoro this month or in the summer transfer window.
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Why Virgil van Dijk missed Arsenal vs Liverpool as Mikel Arteta handed huge FA Cup boost
Virgil van Dijk has been immense for Liverpool so far this season but the Dutchman was unavailable for the FA Cup clash against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium
Virgil van Dijk has been left out of Liverpool’s matchday squad to face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The two Premier League title rivals will go head-to-head as they look to secure their place in the FA Cup fourth round.
Arsenal drew 1-1 against Jurgen Klopp’s side at Anfield back in December, but have now slipped to fourth in the Premier League table following back-to-back defeats against West Ham and Fulham. The Reds currently lead the way at the top of the table – five points ahead of the Gunners.
Klopp will be without Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo after both players jetted off on international duty for the Africa Cup of Nations and Asia Cup earlier this week. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta will be unable to call upon Takehiro Tomiyasu with the defender set to line up alongside Endo for Japan.
Ahead of kick-off, Liverpool released an update on Van Dijk confirming that the club captain was absent through illness. Trent Alexander-Arnold was instead named as captain in Van Dijk’s absence at the Emirates Stadium.
Diogo Jota, a player that has haunted the Gunners in past years, also misses out with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo lining up ahead of the Portuguese forward in attack for the Merseyside outfit. As for Arsenal, Arteta has fielded a strong team with Kai Havertz in attack following Gabriel Jesus’ injury.
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Jesus was not spotted in training for the clash with Liverpool and football.london understands he is out of the squad for the clash with what is a small knee injury that is not expected to be serious. The Brazil international has already suffered two separate muscular issues this season in addition to his three-month absence from the 2022/23 season when he had surgery on a damaged knee ligament.
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