Liverpool is currently facing a problem that plagued Manchester United for years, and solving it could be crucial to the side’s success during the coming season
During Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s time as manager, Liverpool’s arch-rival Manchester United never truly broke through the elite ceiling despite continuously spending big money on players.
While Manchester United finished above the injury-ravaged Reds in 2020/21, it never seemed to be genuinely on the level of a full-strength Liverpool.
Neither are ultimately good enough to be first-XI players for a team with the Red Devils’ aspirations, and yet that’s exactly the status they held for a number of years.
But last year, after years of fans calling for the problem to be decisively addressed in the transfer market, Manchester United recruited one of the world’s premier sixes in Casemiro, who wanted a new challenge after winning the Champions League five times with Real Madrid.
The Brazilian set them back an initial $77m (£60m/€70m), with a further $13m (£10m/€12m) potentially to follow through add-ons, but he repaid them by playing an instrumental role in the side’s transformation. Casemiro was one of the driving forces behind United’s return to Europe’s premier club competition and also produced a player of the match performance as Erik ten Hag ended a six-year trophy drought by beating Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final in February.
For years, Liverpool saw first-hand the importance of an elite defensive midfielder first-hand as Fabinho attained the status of a top-three player in his position.
Last season, it became a problem for Jürgen Klopp’s side as the exhausted Brazilian struggled, and now it’s turned into an area of desperate need. Klopp is heading into Sunday’s Premier League opener against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge without a specialist number six after Fabinho was allowed to make a $52m (£40m/€46m) to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad.
The club has been unable to find a replacement in the transfer market thus far, and the likely result is that one of Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones, both of whom are number eights, will have to offer a makeshift solution against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Thiago and Stefan Bajčetić will provide options when they eventually return from injury, but the former isn’t an out-and-out defensive midfielder and the latter is only 18.
