Liverpool head to the south coast on Saturday, hoping Brighton’s Moises Caicedo won’t run their midfield ragged.
The Ecuadorian, who recently liked a tweet which declared he would one day would be Liverpool bound, has everything the current Jurgen Klopp midfield is lacking: energy, bite, youth, defensive intensity and legs.
Liverpool will likely start Fabinho (29), Jordan Henderson (32) and Thiago (31) at the Amex – but all three have seen better days. Brilliant in their own right in their primes, but now lacking the physical capability to fulfil Klopp’s demands.
Caicedo on the other hand, aged 21, is a fireball on an upward trajectory. The kind of player Liverpool should have been buying for the midfield in the past four years, when in fact they’ve only brought in Thiago.
Now, Klopp is paying the price and faces a real fight for the top four. Caicedo would jump at the chance to sign for Liverpool, but Brighton will quite fairly drive a hard bargain. And mid-season, especially when the Seagulls could achieve their greatest ever top-flight campaign, they will be desperate to keep him.
The Reds need a midfielder this January, really, so would be foolish not to at least put in a bid to tempt Saturday’s opponents.