How Liverpool will FIX centre-back shortage | OneFootball

Liverpool started the process of overhauling their centre-back department last summer.

Giovanni Leoni was signed on a £26m deal from Parma while Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen. The signing of Leoni, 18, ensured Arne Slot would have four senior centre-backs to choose from but his Reds career has taken a disastrous early turn.

He was injured on debut - tearing his ACL - and is expected to be absent for a year. Liverpool knew approaching last summer’s transfer deadline that they could do with one more senior defender and that’s why a deal for Marc Guehi was pursued.

But Crystal Palace opted out of the £35m deal at the last minute owing to the FA Cup holders’ failure to land a replacement for their captain.

Liverpool down to three senior centre-backs

Liverpool looked a little light on centre-backs heading into September and Leoni’s injury has turned a concern into a crisis. Right now Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez are the only senior, fit centre-backs that Arne Slot has got.

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There is also Rhys Williams on the books but the 24-year-old plays mostly for the under-21s these days. All of a sudden the aborted deal for Guehi looked like it could be a turning point in Liverpool’s season.

Should injury or suspension strike in the heart of defence then Slot would quickly run out of options.

And given the uncertainty over Konate’s contract and Gomez’s long-term future - not to mention Van Dijk’s contract expiring in 2027 - you can see why there is cause for alarm.

How will Liverpool replace lost centre-backs?

Liverpool will require an array of high-quality centre-backs before long and sporting director Richard Hughes must go out and find them.

Before then however there are several months of action to get through. And how do Liverpool plan to solve their central defensive shortage?

Well according to Reds’ insider Lewis Steele, the club believe they ALREADY have four players on the books capable of filling in.

© IMAGO - Ibrahima Konate Liverpool

Endo, Grav, Robbo and Baj to fill in

“Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Andy Robertson would be more likely to deputise in central defensive positions if one of the three senior stars got injured,” he writes.

“And don’t forget Stefan Bajcetic was once a defender, though Slot sees him as more of a midfielder now.”

Endo, 32, played centre-back on plenty of occasions before swapping Japanese football for Europe while Robertson tucked in to play there in preseason.

Gravenberch came into the lineup at centre-back last weekend when Konate went off injured - with Slot admiring his ability to distribute the ball from that position.

Bajcetic, meanwhile, is working his way back to full fitness but is seen as a viable first-team option considering the club declined to send him on loan last summer.

So beyond Van Dijk, Konate and Gomez, the Premier League champions believe they possess adequate emergency cover. Time will tell if they’re proven right.