FC Basel winger Mohamed Salah was a long-term Liverpool target, and had been linked with a move to Anfield over the last two-three months on a consistent basis. Liverpool were very close to sealing a deal for the Egyptian, but Chelsea stole a march by signing him as a potential replacement for Manchester United bound Juan Mata. While losing out on Salah will undoubtedly be a big blow, and questions will definitely be asked about the effectiveness of the transfer committee at Anfield, Liverpool have other, more pressing, concerns that need addressing before the window closes in around a week’s time.
Central Midfield
Liverpool did not make any additions to the midfield in the summer, and have just four recognized midfielders to fill the three slots in manager Brendan Rodgers’ favored 4-3-3/4-3-1-2 formation. Rodgers prefers a pairing of a defensive midfielder, Lucas, with a deep-lying playmaker, Steven Gerrard, in central midfield with Jordan Henderson playing in the more advanced role. This has been successful for Liverpool so far this season, who are enjoying one of their better seasons off late. However, constant injury worries have left the Merseyside club thin on backup.
Both Lucas as well as Joe Allen, who can play in either of the roles in the midfield pairing, have suffered from injuries over the last couple of seasons. The pair have both spent over three months each on the sidelines- Lucas with a hamstring injury, and Allen with a thigh problem and a groin injury. Luckily for Liverpool, there hasn’t been much overlap in terms of timing, but a failure to address the issue of squad depth could harm Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the top 4 this season.
Just as Allen made his comeback from injury, Lucas seems to be facing a few weeks on the sidelines due to a knee injury, leaving the squad exposed once again. Liverpool have been linked with a few defensive midfielders this January in order to address this problem the most notable being Yann M’Vila of Rubin Kazan and Fernando Reges of FC Porto. Unless Liverpool are able to bolster their options in the next week, they look quite likely to slip up in their push for the fourth and final Champions League spot.
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