January is always a difficult window to operate in. But with Liverpool’s desire to recruit a centre-back this month, it’s even more difficult for the club.
Centre-backs are often the backbone of a team. Virgil van Dijk exemplifies this perfectly. If you lose your key centre-back, sometimes everything can fall apart. Which is why clubs won’t want to sell their prized assets midway through the season.
And that is why operating in this environment is extremely difficult for the club.
The latest player who Liverpool fans can potentially cross from their list of potential targets this month is Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen. The Burkina Faso defender has thrived under Xabi Alonso this season, and his versatility makes him an ideal candidate for Liverpool.
However, according to The Athletic, it would be ‘virtually impossible’ to sign him in the January window.
No surprises regarding Edmond Tapsoba
Tapsoba is expected to spend the majority of the month away at the African Cup of Nations so that also complicates things in terms of a potential move this month.
However, in the long-term looking ahead to the summer, it would not be a surprise if Liverpool pursued him further.
He can play on either side of the defence as a centre-back, can even fill in at full-back and he’s got the ball composure that Jurgen Klopp demands from his defenders.
By next summer he will be 25 years old – still a very prime and young age for a centre-back and an optima time for him to make the next step in his career. Whether that will be at Anfield or somewhere else remains to be seen.
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