Although Liverpool sit top of the Premier League and Champions League tables, there is a lingering feeling that they are still short in midfield.
The Reds did very little business at all over the summer, despite pushing hard to bring in a new defensive midfielder for Arne Slot.
Liverpool tried to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad after identifying the 25-year-old as they ideal candidate for the position.
But after Zubimendi opted to stay at his boyhood club instead, the Reds chose not to go for a second-choice option.
In the meantime Ryan Gravenberch has excelled after stepping into the starting XI. However, rumours have not gone away that Liverpool could come back in for Zubimendi.
And after some surprise news came out of Real Sociedad on Wednesday, it’s clear that interest remains from the Reds.
Real Sociedad director of football resigns
Although Gravenberch really has been superb for Liverpool this season, it’s clear that Slot could still do with another central, deep-lying option.
The Liverpool head coach does not fully trust Wataru Endo and a player in Zubimendi’s mould would still appear to be a logical target.
Links to another former target Aurelien Tchouameni have started to reappear, but the Real Madrid man no longer looks like the kind of player best suited to Liverpool’s midfield. Zubimendi does.
Up until this point of the season, though, it has perhaps felt unlikely that the Reds would come back in for a player who turned them down.
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According to The Athletic, however, Liverpool’s ‘admiration’ of Zubimendi continues despite his decision not to join over the summer.
That comes as the outlet report the ‘surprise’ news of the resignation of Real Sociedad director of football Roberto Olabe.
Olabe’s is said to have put some of Europe’s biggest sides on ‘high alert’ with his shock resignation, with the 57-year-old boasting a brilliant reputation within the game.
What does this mean for Liverpool?
For the most part, this news appears to be significant in the landscape of European football simply because of how highly regarded Olabe is.
The former goalkeeper is said to be sure to attract ‘significant interest’ across the continent and potentially beyond.
However, given that Olabe played a part in the Spanish club’s push to keep Zubimendi over the summer, perhaps it can be important for another reason, too.
Big changes such as these at clubs can often shift ambitions and realities when it comes to the actual football side of things.
Perhaps Zubimendi will see it as a symbol that it’s time to move on, too. If he decides to ,it sounds like Liverpool will be there.
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