Liverpool want Declan Rice from West Ham United, according to reports. We only see this making sense with a full-time position chance elsewhere, however.
This comes from 90min. They claim that Liverpool, along with other Premier League giants, want Declan Rice.
There’s a good reason, too – Rice’s price is down to £50m. That could be quite a bargain for a team, then.
But for us, this one only really works with a full-time position change. Not for Rice but for Fabinho.
Long-term
The article states that Liverpool view Rice as a holding midfielder, rather than a centre-half. That creates an immediate problem – competition.
Liverpool have Jordan Henderson and Fabinho as elite, senior holding midfielders. Thiago can play there, too, while Gini Wijnaldum and James Milner have on occasion.
That’s quite a lot of immediate competition for Rice.
Wijnaldum could leave at the end of the season, though. The rest are all 30 or will be within the year. All but one – Fabinho.
It makes very little sense to spend big on a defensive midfielder with Fabinho still around. He’ll dominate the position if you want him to.
He’s arguably the best in the world and signing Rice to play there makes little sense. The only way it works, then, is if Fabinho moves permanently.
The Brazilian has spent this season at centre-half, after all. He’s excelled there, too, and perhaps Liverpool want him there full-time.
That way, they don’t need to sign a defender. Fabinho becomes no.4 senior centre-half and Rice takes his place in midfield.
Then you have Rice there as a defensive option in a worst-case injury crisis. And those are very possible, it turns out.
Rice coming in for £50m and Fabinho spending a season alongside Virgil van Dijk? It does make some sense to us – it could be very effective, in fact.
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