Do Liverpool even NEED a new No.6 after Martin Zubimendi rejection?

It’s been a running theme now for the past three summers that Liverpool have missed out on their primary defensive midfield target - but this doesn’t have to spell trouble just yet for the 2024/25 season.

In light of last night’s crushing Martin Zubimendi news, we were immediately flashing back to 12 months ago almost to the day, when on a similarly humid summer night in August 2023 Liverpool were rejected by Moises Caicedo.

Of course, in the long run that hasn’t turned out too badly given both his and Chelsea’s struggles, and the bargain short-term solution that Wataru Endo proved himself to be.

Read more: Liverpool now tipped to sign DIFFERENT midfielder following Zubimendi disappointment

That being said, it does feel perhaps more similar to summer 2022 when Aurelien Tchouameni rejected the Reds in favour of European champions Real Madrid, as Liverpool go into a season short in the midfield department, and of course the following season was ultimately a fairly disappointing one.

There is no denying that Zubimendi is a fantastic player and one that would have made Liverpool better both in the short-term and potentially over the course of several seasons. However, in the spirit of optimism, or maybe denial, it might well be the case that the Reds already have some solutions to their ongoing No.6 based problems.

Who might step up?

First of all, Ryan Gravenberch played very well in that deeper midfield role against Sevilla and would’ve been lining up to start against Ipswich regardless of whether Zubimendi had signed or not.

After a fairly rough first season at Anfield where his versatility held him back at times, Gravenberch has a big year ahead of him and it seems to be a challenge he’s up for, especially with a compatriot for his new manager.

Secondly, Stefan Bajcetic is healthy again after his long-term injury issues, and whilst he was reportedly being offered out on loan this seemed to be related to the Zubimendi deal. We’d be very surprised if Bajcetic leaves with no other midfielders coming in, and he has shown in the past to be a very capable holding midfielder at the highest level.

A similar story is present in Tyler Morton, who has been linked with either temporary or permanent moves this summer, thrown partially in doubt now thanks to this latest development.

Thirdly, it is worth remembering that Wataru Endo is still at the club, although he has looked rusty in pre-season. It may be that he needs some time out of the team given how exhausted he and practically everyone else looked at the end of the last campaign, but perhaps we have been too quick to write him off despite an underwhelming pre-season.

Also it’s fairly clear that Zubimendi will not be the only player on Liverpool’s shortlist this summer, and alternatives will be explored by Arne Slot and Richard Hughes.

The slight caveat to all the positivity in this article is that even if there are already players able to play that No.6 role at Anfield, Slot and Hughes clearly thought that signing a new defensive midfielder was of the utmost importance.