Liverpool inch closer to SIGNIFICANT transfer | OneFootball

Liverpool have moved at least a step closer to a significant transfer after events on Tuesday evening. Richard Hughes and co. have a massive decision to make.

Liverpool beat Southampton on Tuesday evening but it didn't all go to plan. And not just because Hugo Ekitiké stupidly got himself suspended for the weekend.

There was also a terrible injury to Giovanni Leoni, who had to leave the field on the stretcher in the second half. The Italian was making his debut for Liverpool and shone brightly, looking completely at home in a patchwork team.

Shop the LFC Store

LFC x adidas

Shop the home range today!

LFC x adidas

Shop the goalkeeper range today

LFC x adidas Third Kit

Shop the third kit range today!

Doing that at 18 is remarkable and Leoni was arguably the best player on the pitch for stages. Then came a bad injury that was revealed on Wednesday to be an ACL tear.

Leoni was stretchered off with his leg fixed in place. It certainly looks like a bad one and we imagine it's about to fire Liverpool's transfer team into gear.

🔴

Liverpool's transfer plans

Liverpool did try to sign another centre-back at the end of the transfer window. They pushed for Marc Guehi at Crystal Palace, only for the Eagles to collapse the deal right as the last minutes.

Now, several reports have suggested that Liverpool are willing to stick with what they've got and won't try to sign Guehi in January. They'd rather move for him on a free transfer at the end of the season at this stage.

A long-term injury to Leoni almost certainly changes those plans. The Reds can't afford to play the season with three natural centre-backs, especially with Joe Gomez's injury record.

Ibrahima Konate, too, is out of contract at the end of the season. His future will be a factor over the final months of the season so once again, Liverpool will want another senior centre-back.

That centre-back would be the likely replacement for Konate if he doesn't sign a new deal. He'd also a potential replacement for Gomez, who has been linked with AC Milan.

The Leoni injury is a scare. It highlights just how short Liverpool are at centre-back, especially if other negative factors come into play, and it is essentially why they wanted Guehi.

Well, their reasons for wanting the Palace captain have now been justified. And we can't see anything other than a January arrival for a top centre-back.