After Jordan Henderson and Fabinho left for Middle Eastern clubs, Liverpool, in search of a defensive midfielder, acquired Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo.
Amid rumors of further reinforcements, Mali midfielder Cheick Doucouré, who can play at the bottom of midfield, is reportedly one of the targets.
It is said that Liverpool will not sign any more “No. 6” type midfielders, but the Crystal Palace midfielder, with his strength in winning the ball, is a player that Liverpool needs right now, and at 23 years old, he is at the right age to grow while competing with the Japan national team.
Recently, France U21 international Michael Olise, who was thought to be on the verge of a move to Chelsea, agreed to renew his contract with the club.
With the new season already underway, Roy Hodgson said he wants to avoid any players leaving now, and said that he would not have enough time to deal with speculation.
“I want to keep all of the players, there’s no doubt about that. I’m the manager, the club getting money for players doesn’t help me.”
“It would be very, very difficult, I think, with whatever money we get to replace those players.”
“If you’d have asked me to sit here and talk about speculation, Sky [Sports] News fills 4-5 hours a day on the subject on transfers alone”
“I’m afraid, to say, without being any way disrespectful, if most of it wasn’t speculation it wouldn’t be four hours, it would be 40 minutes.”
At this point, with no progress on a move for the Crystal Palace midfielder and increasing interest in other targets, it is becoming less and less realistic for Liverpool to acquire the Malian midfielder.
However, expectations remain high from supporters, so is there a future for Cheick Doucouré to play at Anfield…?