Liverpool’s transfer business for the summer has been wrapped up, barring any surprise late moves to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi market stays open until September the 7th, meaning things are not absolutely set in stone just yet.
But to all intents and purposes, the Liverpool squad for at least the first half of the 2024/25 season is in place.
In many ways, it is a group packed with extreme talent and a decent amount of depth. However, there are certainly one or two areas where Arne Slot might have liked a little more.
Perhaps the most glaring of these is at centre-half. Having sold Sepp van den Berg and let Nat Phillips make a deadline day move to Derby County, Liverpool are down to four senior options.
Amara Nallo set for Liverpool chance
It can be a difficult thing to predict how many centre-backs are needed in a first-team squad. Generally, four would feel like a good number, with two starters and two rotational options.
At Liverpool, there is now a clear quartet to fill these purposes. Virgil van Dijk is the obvious key man, with Ibrahima Konate his main partner.
Between Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez, Liverpool then have two players who are also good enough to come in and do a job whenever needed.
Beyond those four, though, Liverpool now look exceedingly light. Van den Berg would have been a very good option to play fifth-fiddle, but with game time unable to be promised, the best decision was to sell the Dutchman for a good fee.
READ MORE: Every incoming and outgoing deal Liverpool did on transfer deadline day
Phillips, meanwhile, has had a curious career with the Reds. Although he is not of the quality of the other four options, the 27-year-old could have been called upon in an emergency.
With Phillips making a late move to Derby, however – and no new face brought in – many fans will be left wondering who could come in should Liverpool suffer an injury crisis.
The answer, according to the Liverpool ECHO, is 17-year-old defender Amara Nallo. Nallo played a part in Liverpool’s tour of the USA this summer and it’s claimed that the teenager is ‘likely’ to be used as Slot’s fifth-choice option.
Who is Amara Nallo?
We have previously written that Liverpool’s lack of a centre-back signing this summer could mean that a pathway to the first team is being opened up for Nallo.
The youngster was signed from West Ham last summer and like all of these academy additions Liverpool make, Nallo will have been bought to one day make an impact in the senior side.
With four clear options ahead of him, it’s unlikely that Nallo will need to be used this season. But given Konate’s injury history in particular, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Amara will be called upon.
Looking ahead to the future, it would be safe to assume that Gomez’s long-term future at Anfield is in doubt. Having been exploring his options this summer, it has been claimed that Gomez could look to leave in January.
Should that happen, Nallo would then be one step away from getting genuine game time with Liverpool. It feels like a gamble from the Reds, but Nallo has been impressing since his arrival. He now has a big chance to establish himself.
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