© IMAGO – Nico Schlotterbeck Liverpool
Liverpool have a green light to sign Nico Schlotterbeck according to the latest report.
The Reds need centre-backs. Richard Hughes knows that. Michael Edwards knows it. Arne Slot is even more acutely aware of it.
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They probably need a centre-back now. But knowing Liverpool, it will likely only be until the summer that we see any arrivals. By that point who knows where the Reds will be and who is going to be the club’s head-coach.
One thing is certain, Marc Guehi likely won’t be heading to Anfield. He’s off to Manchester City in January after the Reds’ rivals agreed a fee with Crystal Palace.
So, that’s Liverpool’s no.1 target for the centre-back position, a player who they agreed everything for in the summer, going somewhere else instead.
It’s going to be extremely frustrating for Liverpool to lose him in this way. But everything always has a silver lining.
Remember when not signing Julian Brandt, let to Liverpool bringing in Mo Salah?
Well not signing Guehi could now lead to Liverpool assessing their options and moving forward to sign Nico Schlotterbeck instead.
According to a report in CF Bayern Insider, Schlotterbeck is ready to leave Borussia Dortmund and he wants to join a team where he can challenge for league titles and the Champions League.
What better team is there than Liverpool, who are the current Premier League title holders? Dortmund are reportedly ready to let him go, which already gives Hughes a massive green light.
But the biggest green light of the saga comes in the latest update from Bayern Insider who claim that Bayern Munich have now pulled out of the race to sign Schlotterbeck, with his transfer deemed too costly after renewing Dayot Upamecano’s contract.
This gives Liverpool an open door to swoop in and sign a generational prospect in Schlotterbeck.
The 26-year-old is entering his prime years, and when you look at left-sided centre-backs in European football, there aren’t many as accomplished nor as talented as Schlotterbeck.
He’s a very good defender. But even more importantly, he’s an incredible player to have in the build-up.
Schlotterbeck is almost like a quarter-back in the NFL in the way he dictates the play and involves himself in the build-up at Dortmund.
He has an incredible ability to thread balls through defensive lines, make those line-breaking passes and also attempt long diagonal and vertical switches to get his team into advantageous areas.
For a team like Liverpool, who lost Trent Alexander-Arnold and his ability to be able to pull the strings from the defensive line, Schlotterbeck is a no brainer.
Perhaps, it’s also one of the factors as to why they didn’t move for Guehi in the end. Why move for the England international when they could potentially get someone even better in the summer.
Schlotterbeck is worth waiting for, and it looks like the pathway has now cleared for him to sign for Liverpool.
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