GLARING Liverpool problem risks ruining entire season

When Jarell Quansah was substituted off on the half-hour mark in the 1-0 loss to Tottenham in the League Cup on Wednesday night, fans feared the worst.

At the time, it left Liverpool with exactly two healthy natural centre-backs. Thankfully these are the two starters this season - Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate - but it doesn’t take a genius to see the dangers of this situation.

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Van Dijk turns 34 in July and may well leave the club in the summer, whilst Konate is just coming off the back of a major knee injury, his seventh stint on the sidelines since joining Liverpool in 2021.

Quansah turned out to just have an illness, yet the necessity of bringing on defensive midfielder Wataru Endo to cover should lay bare the reality of the situation - Liverpool need new centre-backs and they need them in this transfer window.

Joe Gomez was an admirable fill-in for the injured Konate but is now himself on the sidelines with a hamstring issue. Quansah was substituted at half-time on the first day of the season and has been lacklustre in his limited game time since.

What do Liverpool do at centre-back?

It leaves Liverpool in the enviable position of potentially forcing out a long-time servant despite him being 27 or giving up on a promising youngster who looked like he could be the future this time last year.

But not doing so could cost them a clear-cut chance at getting the elsuive 20th league title and Liverpool have been one of the best in the world at refreshing their squad when necessary.

The problem is that any new signing would basically be guaranteed not to start until either Van Dijk leaves or someone gets injured. It’s difficult to sell this to players.

Jarrad Branthwaite has come up time and time again but he wouldn’t displace Liverpool’s captain at left centre-back. This is the same issue with Nico Schlotterbeck at Borussia Dortmund who we have suggested could be an ideal Van Dijk replacement.

The promising young Brazilian Vitor Reis is rumoured to be on his way to Manchester City, whilst the recently-linked Murillo and Levi Colwill are centrepieces of Nottingham Forest and Chelsea sides, respectively, that are currently pushing Liverpool for the Premier League title.

It is a horrible situation to navigate. Liverpool’s best bet appears to be identifying the same traits they did in Van Dijk and Konate in young players and letting them sit behind them, developing and filling in when rest and rotation is needed.

It’s easy enough to say it - doing it is a separate thing altogether.

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