da roleta： The longer this goes on, the noisier it will get for Liverpool and their new signings and their recruitment strategy when viewed through a wider lens.
da apostaganha： Five defeats from six in the Premier League have snuffed out any hopes of Arne Slot retaining his throne at the top of the division. Arsenal are eight points ahead at the summit, but it is the stark polarity in technical implementation and fluency that is a greater threat to Liverpool’s campaign.
That and the Reds’ startling defensive fragilities. Ibrahima Konate has been at the centre of Liverpool’s problems this term, and Virgil van Dijk is hardly at his best either. A variety of full-back pairings have yet to provide sustainable results, and Alisson Becker’s absence through injury hasn’t helped matters.
But Liverpool are all wrong, and it has at times felt as if Slot it trying to put square pegs into round holes. To solve this crisis of confidence and cohesion, sporting director Richard Hughes appears to be getting ready to add a high-level midfielder to the Anfield ranks.
Liverpool looking to sign a midfielder
Liverpool have got plenty of creativity in their ranks, even if Slot is not wielding his playmakers’ abilities to the max at this moment. But Liverpool need more in the way of build-up play.
Ryan Gravenberch is one of the most talented midfielders in the Premier League, and he has excelled since Slot shifted his countryman into a deep-lying central berth.
But Liverpool are embroiled in a pressing conundrum this season, lacking the intensity and physicality and drive to recycle possession. This was painfully clear on Sunday against Manchester City, who outperformed Liverpool across almost every department.
The Merseysiders also look a bit lost, tactically. That’s a disquieting thing to say, and the dichotomy between Slot’s first and second terms at Liverpool are illustrated clearly through this point.
What Liverpool need is a genius midfielder to rival Gravenberch at number six and revive Liverpool’s energy and build-up and pressing. Gravenberch is great, but Fabinho’s presence is missed in the Liverpool midfield, that Brazilian anchor whose composure under pressure and crisp, intelligent distribution paid dividends under Jurgen Klopp.
It is perhaps for this reason that Hughes and FSG have centred their sights on Paris Saint-Germain’s Vitinha.
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are keeping a close eye on the Portugal international ahead of the turn of the year and are willing to offer a staggering €130m (about £114m) fee. Arsenal and Juventus are also understood to be keen on the 25-year-old.
This won’t be an easy one to pull off, of course. Vitinha is contracted to the Parc des Princes until 2029, and he is considered by PSG to be one of their most untouchable players.
What Vitinha would offer Liverpool
Vitinha is rather good at football. It seems obvious that he would raise the level of Liverpool’s midfield, having dominated under Luis Enrique’s wing, winning a historic quadruple last season and continuing to dazzle at the heart of the PSG super-team this term.
Described by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez as being “the best midfielder in the world”, Vitinha has been instrumental in Paris’ golden footballing age, playing 169 times across all competitions for the club since joining from Porto for £34m in 2022.
Here is a midfielder who has played in the Premier League before, featuring 19 times and starting five of those fixtures in 2020/21 while on loan with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
This was a bit-part role for a young and raw player. Vitinha is now levels above that one-time player whose passing and skill have found a maturity befitting a team at the very top of the European pyramid.
It is such a player who could turn things around for Liverpool, perhaps even establishing himself as the Redmen’s finest midfielder since those days of Fabinho in Klopp’s system.
These players do not share that many stylistic similarities, but Fabinho was considered among the finest in the world when tackling his way through the Premier League, and Vitinha, as mentioned already, is believed by some to be the very creme of the world crop, finishing third in the men’s Ballon d’Or rankings this year.
1.
PSG
Ousmane Dembele
2.
Barcelona
Lamine Yamal
3.
PSG
Vitinha
4.
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah
5.
Barcelona
Raphinha
This is a midfielder who can do it all. His passing is out of his world, and his is a scholarly footballing mind. As per data-led platform FBref, Vitinha ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across Europe over the past 12 months for pass completion, passes attempted and progressive passes, the top 9% for shot-creating actions and the top 8% for progressive carries per 90.
Moreover, Vitinha has won 60% of his ground duels in Ligue 1 this season, emphasising the underrated combativeness to his game.
Gravenberch is mobile and crisp on the ball and progressive when the right chance presents itself, but he is not as skilled on the ball as Vitinha, and while Klopp’s heavy-metal system demanded an enforcer like Fabinho, Slot’s more centralised build-up patterns demand a profile like Vitinha, especially now Trent Alexander-Arnold has up and left.
This is why Vitinha would be such a credit to the project, very much becoming Slot’s own version of Fabinho without matching the 32-year-old, who now plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad, in regard to the deeper analytical dive of his playing style.
The ripple effect of such an acquisition would be astounding. Energy and movement and belonging would give rise to the likes of Konate and Van Dijk’s latent brilliance as a defensive partnership. Vitinha would direct play and orchestrate from the middle. Here you would find Wirtz unlocking his skills once again, and the web of passing patterns would strengthen across the central and attacking thirds.
Liverpool said their farewells to Fabinho a time ago, and success has been had in the years since his sale. But Liverpool miss him still, and while Vitinha is a wildly different profile, his technical skills and ability to navigate his way through intense pressure underscore the importance of getting this one over the line and reviving the Slot machine.
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