3 players Liverpool should have been targeting in January
- Liverpool didn't recruit in January transfer window
- Red previously spent up to £165m on midfielders last summer
- Squad might have benefitted from some minor adjustments
Liverpool are top of the Premier League and will take some serious toppling if they aren't to lift the title in Jurgen Klopp's final season. But planning and squad evolution can never stop if a club wants to remain consistently successful year after year.
That makes every single transfer window an opportunity. And while Liverpool don't need major surgery at this moment in time, having completely overhauled their midfield last summer and assembled a top and broad forward line, little tweaks are always necessary.
Andre
Liverpool have long been interested in Fluminense midfield talent Andre, who has also commanded attention from Premier League rivals Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Fulham. The 22-year-old helped his club win the Copa Libertadores at the end of 2023 and then competed in the recent FIFA Club World Cup final against Manchester City.
Fluminense president Mario Bittencourt revealed that a bid from Liverpool for Andre worth around £25m was turned down during the summer, which was halfway through the Brazilian season.
"We had an offer for Andre of €30m from Liverpool and we said 'no' because we had agreed with the player that we wouldn't sell him because we wanted to win the Libertadores," the president explained.
With Fluminense's campaign over by January, chances are Andre could have been let go had the Reds come in with a fresh proposal.
Jonathan Tah
Ultimately, Liverpool opted against formally pursuing Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah after considering the Germany international as a replacement for the injury-stricken Joel Matip.
Matip won't play again this season after an ACL rupture and has potentially already played his last Liverpool game with his contract up in summer. Without dipping into the market, the Reds will have to make do with with only Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and 20-year-old Jarell Quansah in the centre of defence for the rest of the season - assuming Joe Gomez remains primarily a spare full-back.
Interest in Tah may not last until summer. As 90min explained in December, he was seen as a more immediately available option than the likes of Goncalo Inacio, Piero Hincapie, Nico Schlotterbeck and Arthur Theate, all of whom were being scouted with a view to the coming summer.
Joe Hart
Liverpool ended up rejecting a £15m bid for Caoimhin Kelleher from Nottingham Forest on Deadline Day, valuing the Irish goalkeeper upwards of £20m. Valuation aside, it begs the question what his career trajectory is going to be. At 25, he has precious few first-team games under his belt – just 33, in fact – and might benefit from at least going out on loan for an extended period to rack up some experience of actually playing senior matches on a regular basis.
With Alisson now 31, it doesn't bear thinking about thrusting what is still essentially a rookie goalkeeper into the void should the Brazilian pick up a major injury or leave in the next couple of years. If Liverpool had gone after a goalkeeper in January to serve as a short-term understudy, there could have been an opportunity to get Kelleher the game experience he sorely lacks.
It's a complicated role, as someone has to be satisfied with being on the bench, but at the same time offer an upgrade on current third choice Adrian. Joe Hart hasn't played Premier League football since he was dropped by Burnley at the end of 2018 and has managed to resurrect his career with Celtic. But, at the age of 36 and out of contract at the end of the season, it would likely have taken only a nominal transfer fee and Hart may have fancied one last ride at an elite club.
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