Liverpool want to sign Carlos Soler from Valencia, according to reports. The Spaniard could replace a ‘quality’ player at the club.
Golsmedia in Spain believes Carlos Soler is a Liverpool target. The Valencia player has a little over 12 months left on his contract, convincing the Reds that they could sign him.
Soler might not be too expensive, either. The Daily Mail claimed in 2020 that Valencia wanted around £36m in any sale but his contract situation almost certainly cuts that price. There’s a potential bargain on the table here.
But why would Liverpool want the 25-year-old this summer? We wonder if he’d actually be a replacement for a ‘quality’ player who isn’t getting things his own way.
Carlos Soler at Liverpool
Soler primarily plays centre-midfield for Valencia but he’s also capable of operating wide right. That’s particularly handy for Liverpool, who like players with multiple positions under their belt.
And Soler’s two roles fit nicely in Jurgen Klopp’s system. They use their centre-midfielders to drift wide and dovetail with wingers and full-backs. The Spaniard could do that nicely and naturally.
But that’s also the role Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fills. He’s a centre-midfielders who’s comfortable wide and signing Soler would almost certainly diminish his gametime.
The ‘quality’ Oxlade-Chamberlain, in the words of Roy Keane, just isn’t playing enough as it is. His contract expires in 2023, too, and it could be that Liverpool want to sell him, using the funds to sign the younger Soler.
It would be a bit of a shame – Oxlade-Chamberlain started the year wonderfully – but the plan looks obvious on paper. We just don’t see how both players could play often enough in the same squad.
Liverpool might be about to swap squad players here, then. They’d get a younger player and, potentially, one who’s more reliably fit. If the deal pays for itself, it’s hard to see a real downside.
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