Milan Skriniar ideal for Liverpool – but reported £54m price is troubling

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Liverpool want Internazionale defender Milan Skriniar, according to reports. But his asking price presents a real stumbling block.

ESPN claim that Liverpool like the look Internazionale’s Milan Skriniar. He’s apparently on their list of targets as the club look to cover Virgil van Dijk’s injury in January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLT0FRBZVNQ

Not that Liverpool are the first. Tottenham Hotspur still like the player and tried to get him ahead of this season. Inter’s £54m asking price put them off, however, and they want for Joe Rodon instead.

So here come Liverpool, in need of a centre-half and maybe enough to spend that kind of money midway through a season.

Nice fit

Skriniar ticks an awful lot of boxes. He’s a talented player, for one, and a good age at 25. It means he’s experienced enough to contribute right away but still young enough to develop under Jurgen Klopp.

This might end up being preferable to signing a particularly young defender. Skriniar would enter his prime right as Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip exit theirs. Then Joe Gomez, still only 23, would be about to come into his. That does all seem to mesh together nicely.

He’s from Serie A, too, where Liverpool have found success with Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker. All in all, Skriniar makes sense.

Price-tag

£54m is a lot, however. Worryingly, that was Inter’s pre-season price, too, and that could well rise for a January sale. Are Liverpool comfortable spending that much money just to cover Van Dijk?

We’d say yes if reports claimed Liverpool were interested before the injury. But that seems like a substantial amount of cash for what is essentially a reactionary purchase.

But if Liverpool are at all concerned that Van Dijk may not come back the same player, £54m really isn’t too much. In that case, they’ll absolutely want someone who can step in immediately. Skriniar fits that bill.