Liverpool were fans of Chelsea defender Levi Colwill in this summer’s transfer market, though he’s now set to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge.
The exciting young Englishman looked superb during his time on loan at Brighton last season, and Neil Jones says it’s no secret that he was firmly on Liverpool’s radar this summer, as per his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
Colwill could have been a fine signing for Liverpool, with Jones acknowledging that the Reds could do with bringing in a young centre-back to eventually replace ageing duo Virgil van Dijk or Joel Matip.
Chelsea fans will be thrilled to have kept hold of Colwill, especially as there may have been some risk of losing him to a big six rival like Liverpool.
Jones also says someone like Josko Gvardiol could have been of interest to LFC, but that there aren’t many other options on the market right now.
“It’s gone a little quiet in terms of Liverpool links with centre-backs, and I think in an ideal world that is something they’d look at, but the priority for now is elsewhere. At the start of the window the priority was midfielders and that’s even more the case now with the surprise departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho,” Jones said.
“The pursuit of Romeo Lavia is ongoing, even if agreeing a deal with Southampton is proving challenging, and I think that now supersedes any urgency about getting a new central defender in.
“Still, if you look at the state of the defence at the moment, I think you can see it’s clear they could do with doing something – while it’s not exactly urgent due to the depth that the likes of Joel Matip and Joe Gomez provide, it’s certainly a medium-to-long-term issue, because Matip will be out of contract next summer, Gomez has struggled with both fitness and form, and of course Virgil van Dijk’s on the wrong side of 30. I’m a big fan of Ibrahima Konate but he’s had some injury troubles himself, so it is something that Liverpool would address in an ideal world, but that’s not where they find themselves right now.
“In terms of players who’d fit the bill, it’s no secret that Liverpool liked Levi Colwill, though it now looks like he’s going to sign a long-term contract to stay at Chelsea. In the past I think they would also have been really keen on someone like Josko Gvardiol, but it looks like he’s going to Manchester City, so the pool of potential signings has already diminished. I think they’d need to look at someone who’s 21 or younger who could grow into the role taking over from Matip when he leaves, and later on Van Dijk.
“There’s no obvious candidate, though, in what is looking like a difficult market. Konate was a good choice a couple of years ago when there were one or two others being considered too, while Van Dijk was head and shoulders above the rest when he joined, but there doesn’t look like an obvious equivalent now. I don’t see anyone of that ilk at this moment in time who Liverpool would be able to get.”