Liverpool Transfer News: Liverpool reach the November international break fourth in the Premier League, nine points behind leaders Arsenal, and Andoni Iraola’s first season has shown where his side leaks. Arsenal won 1-0 at Anfield on 1 November without Liverpool managing a single shot on target, then Fenerbahçe won 3-2 in Istanbul, so the Reds have conceded three goals in each of their last three Champions League games. Sunday’s 3-1 win at Palace steadied things, but 10 goals shipped in four European matches shows a team that stretches too easily.
Midfield sits at the heart of that looseness. Ryan Gravenberch is playing through a heel fracture, missed the Arsenal and Fenerbahçe games, and Iraola calls his availability a day-to-day matter of pain. Dominik Szoboszlai started at Selhurst Park, yet his hamstring forced him off after 32 minutes at Brentford on 17 October. Trey Nyoni has filled in well at 19, playing 11 of the first 14 games and scoring in Istanbul, but a teenager cannot carry that load all winter.
Julian Ward, back as sporting director since 26 September, first looked at Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, only for TEAMtalk to report on 30 October that Chelsea were clear frontrunners for the £100m-rated midfielder.
Liverpool Transfer News: Camara emerges as the alternative
That has pushed Monaco’s Lamine Camara to the top of Ward’s list. TEAMtalk’s James Holland reports, citing Daily Mail journalist Lewis Steele on Anfield Index, that Chelsea sources believe Liverpool may already have a deal in place with the 22-year-old Senegal international. Football Insider claimed on 2 November that Monaco had given the go-ahead, although the asking price has climbed from about £46m in the summer to £58.5m, a fee Liverpool reportedly accept.
The midfielder averages around three tackles per 90 minutes, which puts him in the top 14% of Ligue 1 midfielders, and he supplied four assists last season. Shooting is his gap, with under one attempt per 90, and at 5ft 8in he offers little in the air.
Should Liverpool pay £58.5m for a midfield ball-winner in January?
Yes, because Liverpool’s problem is protection, not creativity. Isak, Wirtz and Barcola supply the attacking quality, yet the space between midfield and defence keeps opening. Camara would let Iraola push Mac Allister and Szoboszlai higher while shielding a back four he called very thin in July.
Gravenberch will recover, so this adds competition. At £58.5m he costs £41.5m less than Scott, and the better deal as long as Liverpool treat him as their holding midfielder rather than a like-for-like Gravenberch replacement.
