Wonderkid centre-back sends come and get me plea to Liverpool | OneFootball

There's a special wonderkid ready to join the first-team at academy level right now.

Liverpool have a centre-back problem. Unfortunately, Richard Hughes was unable to sign Marc Guehi in the summer.

This has left a void in the Liverpool squad, amplified by the injury to Giovanni Leoni, who is ruled out for the rest of the season.

His absence means Arne Slot has just three centre-backs to choose from in his senior squad. One of those centre-backs in Ibrahima Konate had to come back early from international duty because he has an injury.

So at the moment, the only two centre-backs who are fully fit at the club are Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.

This is not a sustainable situation for Liverpool. Gomez is injury prone and Van Dijk is not getting any younger. We're only a couple of set-backs away from having to play Wataru Endo or Ryan Gravenberch in those positions.

But there is an exciting young talent at academy level who could solve this problem. Over the summer some massive clubs were ready to battle Liverpool for Wellity Lucky's signature.

The likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid had him on their radar but the youngster opted to stay at Anfield with the hope and promise of more first-team opportunities.

He got that in pre-season, making his debut for the first-team against Athletic Bilbao and he's also trained with the first-team a couple of times.

Mostly though he has just been playing for the club's U21 side, where he is continuing to showcase his special quality and demonstrating why he might just be ready for the first-team.

The latest exhibition of this was against Crewe in the EFL Trophy, where Lucky was one of the best players on the pitch for Liverpool's U21 side during a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday.

Despite the defeat, Lucky showed he was both physically and mentally ready for the demands of senior football.

The 19-year-old completed 88 passes in the game, which was the highest out of anyone on the pitch. He also won the most tackles in the match (3) and won 100% (6/6) of his ground duels while making six recoveries and two interceptions.

It was a truly magnificent performance from the young man and it showcases just how talented he is. He's both comfortable on the ball and strong when it comes to winning his duels and reading the game.

This is all Slot can ask for, and amid the centre-back crisis, Lucky could well be getting his chance in the coming weeks to impress.

He's a name to keep a close eye on. He's definitely ready now to make the step-up to a higher level.