Will Liverpool regret this? REJECTED £21m player makes Premier League look EASY | OneFootball

Over the past few years, Liverpool have struggled to bring in a replacement for the hole left in midfield by Fabinho, but this has not been through a lack of trying.

The club's transfer strategy has been one of cautiousness to ensure they get 'the right fit', despite having no shortfall of budget available to spend if an essential target appears.

Read more: Liverpool star ‘training harder, faster’ to FORCE his way into Arne Slot’s team

At the end of the 2021-22 season, Liverpool had their eyes set on hot talent Auerelien Tchouameni who had excelled for Monaco in the French league and looked on his way out for a new opportunity, but despite their best efforts, he moved to Real Madrid and the club has been unable to pry him away since.

Next up, in the summer window following the 2022-23 season, Liverpool were eyeing up Jude Bellingham, perhaps the most wanted youngster in the world at the time, following his meteoric rise from Birmingham City - where they retired his shirt number - he moved to Borussia Dortmund for a £27million transfer fee, where he then played every week and went on to captain the side.

However, whilst Liverpool were high on the radar of Bellingham at the time, the allure of Real Madrid left the Reds scuppered once again.

Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid

But picking themselves back up again, Liverpool then invested significant interest in Moises Caicedo of Brighton and Romeo Lavia of Southampton - both moves which proved unsuccessful, despite Liverpool offering an accepted £111million bid for Caicedo - an English record transfer fee - that was turned down by the player, and around £50million for Lavia, as both players headed to Chelsea instead.

While Liverpool did not give up there, in the end recruiting Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, to replace the departures of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho, uncertainty still surrounded the club over the squad's defensive stability.

From the start of last season to now

In a quite staggering turn of events, surpassing almost every fan's expectations from the season as the club had attempted to replace an entire midfield in one solitary transfer window, the Reds had a title charge on their hands, with the midfield working seamlessly for the most part.

With Endo filling in as the defensive midfielder, in tandem with Mac Allister who shared the role with him, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott filled in the remaining roles, helping to amass a very respectable third-placed finish with 82 points.

Alongside their impressive league performance, the Reds used their entire squad to close out a Carabao Cup win against Chelsea and made it to the Europa League quarter-finals before losing out to eventual winners Atalanta.

Liverpool players celebrate winning the match during the Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, London, England on 25 February 2024. Copyright: xAndyxRowlandx PMI-6111-0051

But whilst Jurgen Klopp made do with the squad he was given, the club was still in substantial talks with potential long-term midfield targets who could finally put an end to their fortuitous search for a Fabinho replacement.

The Andre Trinidade saga

Fluminense midfielder Andre Trinidade was a player who everyone admired, constantly winning duels and delivering standout performances in the Brasileirao Serie A.

Rumours of a release clause circulated, and quotes were published claiming he was very much on board with a potential Liverpool move, but as the South American football calendar works differently to Europe, he wanted to wait until the end of the season (subsequently the end of the year) before considering any negotiations.

However, playing less as an out-and-out defensive midfielder and more as a hybrid ball-winner, Liverpool ended their pursuit, much to fans' frustration.

But with the role in Liverpool's midfield still not substantially filled, speculation amongst the fanbase over who the club may eventually recruit grew more and more.

When this past summer came around, change was happening everywhere as Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp as manager and the entire sporting hierarchy of the club changed. Alongside players featuring for their countries in the European Championships, the Copa America and the Olympics, Liverpool found themselves distracted from transfer business.

Martin Zubimendi became the newest target and yet again the club was unsuccessful in their efforts but this time, it was not because the player preferred a move elsewhere, but because he yearned to continue playing for his boyhood club Real Sociedad.

Under Arne Slot's leadership, Ryan Gravenberch has taken on the No. 6 role and at just 22 years of age and excelling so far, he may prove to be sufficient for Liverpool to end their search for a defensive midfielder.

Did Liverpool miss a trick along the way?

Once Liverpool missed out on Zubimendi, the outlook from the club changed, with Slot making clear that the players already contracted were part a of particularly talented group and that no rash decisions would be made to stop the risk of buying a player the club weren't 100% sure on.

In the case of Andre, Liverpool were not sufficiently convinced enough to make the move. Wolves on the other hand felt convinced and brought the player to the Premier League for £18.6million on deadline day this summer.

Now three games into his Premier League career at Wolves, the Brazilian international has been stellar in midfield, despite the club's poor start to the 2024/25 campaign.

Across 209 minutes, he has misplaced just three of his 84 passes, making six long balls with 100% accuracy and winning 14 of his 19 ground duels.

Most notably, in yesterday's 3-1 loss to Aston Villa, he was 8/8 on ground duels, playing as a solo defensive midfielder as opposed to Liverpool's new double-pivot system.

While the sample size is limited, his form is in a very similar vein to how he performed for Fluminense. Now featuring in the Premier League it is not unlikely that Liverpool may reconsider their position on the player, but from a £19million price point last season, his value may significantly increase by the time they get the chance.

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