Liverpool is reportedly gearing up to invest over £100 million in acquiring French sensation Bradley Barcola, viewed as a potential replacement for Mo Salah. However, while Barcola’s arrival promises to bolster their attacking prowess, it doesn’t address the ongoing issues in their midfield.
The glaring absence of a No. 6—a key player tasked with intercepting threats and handling the gritty aspects of the game—was painfully evident in their recent fixture against Newcastle. This challenge presents a significant hurdle for new manager Andoni Iraola as he seeks to establish his footing at Anfield.
In Iraola’s debut game, Liverpool’s vulnerability in midfield was starkly exposed, echoing the issues that plagued former manager Arne Slot, ultimately contributing to his departure. The openness in the center field continues to be a pressing concern.
A telling moment occurred later in the match when Gravenberch lost the ball near the box, yet again putting Liverpool on the back foot. Despite the presence of bodies, Yoane Wissa easily navigated through them, morphing a promising attack into a defensive frailty. Meanwhile, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, and fellow midfielder Florian Wirtz were seen jogging back to help.
Following the match, there were vociferous calls from fans and analysts, including Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports, for Liverpool to secure a defensive midfielder. This pressing need dominated Daily Mail Sport’s match analysis and was a focal point in Iraola’s post-match press conference.
But is it as simple as that? And what are the other options to fix this midfield mess?
Yoane Wissa makes his way through the wide open spaces in the Liverpool midfield at St James’ Park as Ryan Gravenberch gives chase
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola shows his displeasure during the 2-2 draw
SIGN A NEW No 6
This is not an overreaction based on one game of football. They have needed a No 6 since Fabinho left in 2023.
That summer, they had tried to sign Romeo Lavia, then of Southampton, and Moises Caicedo, then of Brighton. Both moved to Chelsea.
They ended up signing a stop-gap option in Wataru Endo, who arrived from Stuttgart on Deadline Day. The Japan international is the only specialist No 6 at the club but very rarely plays there and is often used as back-up in defence. He is also 33 and not a long-term solution.
Jurgen Klopp cobbled something together with Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold also playing in the holding role in a season where they made a fair title charge until it fizzled out in mid-March. The next summer, a deal for Real Sociedad and Spain No 6 Martin Zubimendi was advanced and Slot had spoken to the player. He decided to stay put and ultimately ended up at Arsenal a year later.
Slot found a revelation in pre-season as he converted the lesser-seen Gravenberch into a holding midfielder. He and Mac Allister formed a formidable duo on and off the ball as Liverpool romped to the Premier League title.
But it all fell apart from there as neither could sustain that level going into last season. Mac Allister, privately, was taken aback by some of the criticism he received but he seemed to struggle physically for the entire campaign. Jones’s exit this summer further compounds the lack of numbers in the position.
So, will they sign a defensive midfielder this summer? The messaging all window has been clear: wide attack is the priority – not a new No 6.
Lamine Camara at Monaco is a name that has circled in the last 24 hours – with Chelsea also said to be linked – but the word from Liverpool sources remains the same: The Reds are not in the market for midfielders. And that will only change if another midfielder leaves.
Liverpool have been trying to solve their No6 problem for ages and thought they had when they lined up Martin Zubimendi. He opted to stay at Real Sociedad, however, before joining Arsenal
Chelsea’s Romeo Lavia is another midfielder Liverpool tried, and failed, to sign
DROP MEGA-MONEY WIRTZ
Given the £116m fee paid for Wirtz last year, this one will not go down well. It cannot be a long-term solution either.
But pushing Szoboszlai higher and having a more solid base achieves two things: it allows the Hungary star to have more of an attacking input and should, in theory, mean a double-pivot to shield the defence.
Iraola wants Wirtz and Alexander Isak to work in tandem up top and he will certainly not write them off after one sub-par game in the hostile environment of Newcastle. There are huge hopes for Wirtz this coming year.
One unpalatable option for Liverpool is to drop their big-money signing Florian Wirtz
TRUST THE IRAOLA PROCESS
It’s not like football fans to overreact, is it?
After five games last season, Liverpool looked likely to storm the league but their form fell off a cliff. Iraola was brought to the club because of his proven track record to improve players. Look at the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen, Ilya Zabarnyi as examples of those he took from unproven to big-money sales.
Tyler Adams, Eli Junior Kroupi and Rayan may also bag big sums for Bournemouth in the not-too-distant future, though the Cherries are keen to back Marco Rose as much as possible this season and are unlikely to sanction a sale for one of their big attackers.
Iraola insists it is not a personnel problem that plagued his midfield last weekend – and there is no guarantee a new signing would aid that. With time, the Basque will hope to solidify the issue.
Iraola wants his players to be front-footed and believes, over the course of a season, the positives outweigh the negatives.
CHANGE FORMATION COMPLETELY
Here’s a rogue one that has been suggested this week: Iraola should change to a different system altogether.
Jeremie Frimpong and Kerkez have struggled as full backs but what if they were wing backs with less defensive responsibilities? Wirtz’s best form came in a 3-4-2-1 formation under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen.
This one is more of a fan hope than a realistic possibility, though. Otherwise their summer-long pursuit of wide forwards would be redundant – and the club also identified Iraola because he played a system similar to that which the squad is accustomed.
Another option is to convert full backs Milos Kerkez (above) and Jeremie Frimpong into wing backs – and bolster the middle of midfield with a 3-4-2-1 formation
GIVE THE KIDS A GO
Trusting youth players is in Iraola’s identity. At his boyhood team Athletic Club, there is a long-standing policy to only have Basque players in the squad. They cannot go out and spend mega-money on a transfer target, but instead have to work with what they already have at their disposal.
Keeping this in mind, 19-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni will be given chances to impress. The young Englishman played just 21 minutes in the Premier League last term but was a star of pre-season and deserves more chances in the coming weeks.
The 19-year-old midfielder Trey Nyoni impressed during pre-season for Liverpool
He is small in stature but plays with a maturity beyond his years. Daily Mail Sport has been present for many of his youth-team appearances where he showed he is an elegant midfielder who always demands possession and can dictate play from deep.
Nyoni can certainly push for minutes this term.
Another back-up option is academy graduate James McConnell. He spent the first half of last season at Ajax and the second half on the treatment table. But he is fit now and has been asked to stick around. He had agreed a loan move to Preston North End but that has been put on the back-burner for now at least.