Anfield Watch
·26 November 2020
Anfield Watch
·26 November 2020
Liverpool are reportedly in talks to sign Ajax central defender Perr Schuurs for a fee in the region of €30m ahead of the January transfer window.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Liverpool have opened talks with Ajax over a deal for Schuurs after a spate of injuries in recent weeks.
The report claims that Liverpool have offered €30m for the defender, who has been compared to Juventus centre-back De Ligt.
ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT
It could make sense for Liverpool to bring in a centre-back after Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk both suffered long-term knee injuries this season. The pair are both set to miss the majority, if not all, of the season after damaging their knees – van Dijk against Everton and Gomez on international duty in training. This has left Joel Matip as the only senior, natural, centre-back at the club – with youngster Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams also having played at times this season.
Would Schuurs be a good addition to bolster Liverpool’s defensive options? His statistics in the Champions League this season would suggest not, with the defender having recorded a WhoScored rating of 6.57 in Europe so far. The only Liverpool defender to start more than one game with a lower average is Rhys Williams, but even his score is only 0.11 less than Schuurs’. This shows that the Dutchman, who is the same age as Williams, has only been marginally better in Europe this season and may not be worth the €30m Liverpool could reportedly spend on him in January.
Liverpool could, instead, be better off sticking with what they have and giving more exposure to Williams. This could then allow Williams to grow and develop as a player, potentially becoming good enough to be a regular option for Jurgen Klopp – whether that be in the XI or as a rotation player. That could then save Liverpool €30m, which could then potentially be used to strengthen another area of the team.