“He’d be available” – Liverpool ‘closely monitoring’ £88m LaLiga gem who Chelsea also want | OneFootball

Liverpool are reportedly eyeing a potential move for a LaLiga midfielder who’s also of strong interest to Chelsea.

With the January transfer window now only five weeks away, sporting director Richard Hughes will be identifying prospective mid-season targets for the Reds and is understood to have compiled a shortlist of five centre-back options as a ‘priority’ for the winter.

However, it appears that the Anfield recruitment staff are also looking towards a possible market opportunity in the middle of the park.

Liverpool ‘closely monitoring’ Pablo Barrios

As reported by Mark Brus for the Daily Briefing on Tuesday morning, Liverpool are ‘closely monitoring’ the situation of Pablo Barrios at Atletico Madrid, for whom Chelsea are already ‘preparing a bid’, with the 22-year-old valued in the region of €90m-€100m (£79m-£87.8m).

Regarding the Blues’ interest in the Spaniard, one source claimed: “He’s someone they could be prepared to move for if there’s any indication he’d be available and interested in a move”.

The report states that the two Premier League clubs ‘would surely be very tempting destinations’ for the midfielder, who ‘looks like he could become one of the very best players in the world in his position’.

(Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

Do Liverpool really need to spend £80m+ on Barrios in January?

Liverpool chiefs will have already seen what Barrios can do when Atletico Madrid played at Anfield in the Champions League in September, when the 22-year-old made three tackles and won four duels but was also culpable of one error which led to a shot for the Reds (Sofascore).

The Spain international has stood out for his dribbling ability, with an average of 1.25 successful take-ons per 90 minutes placing him in the top 7% of midfielders in Europe’s five main leagues for that metric over the past year (FBref).

Primarily a central midfielder, Barrios can also play as a number 6 or 10, and he can even be deployed on either wing if required (Transfermarkt).

The youngster certainly appears to have plenty of promise and could develop into a genuine star, but the additon of a centre-back is a far bigger priority in January, with Liverpool already boasting a range of top-class options in the middle of the park (even if some of those have faced criticism of late).

Spending almost £90m on a luxury signing wouldn’t be the wisest course of action in our current predicament, although Hughes might still want to keep Chelsea honest in the chase for the Atletico midfielder and not let the Blues have a free run at him.

Let’s see if this develops any further in the remaining few weeks of 2025.