Liverpool are in dire need of a central defender, despite what Jurgen Klopp may think. All summer long, they have been chasing Southampton’s Virgil Van Dijk but with recent reports linking the reds to a move for Benedikt Howedes, it makes you wonder why they didn’t pursue him earlier.
Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren is the closest thing they have to a partner for Joel Matip. The Croatian defender gets a mixed response from the Liverpool faithful and that’s mainly down to his inconsistency.
Conceding three goals away to Watford on the opening weekend would have surely been a wake up call for Klopp that there are frailties in the Liverpool defence.
With every day that passes, it looks increasingly unlikely that the reds will land Virgil Van Dijk, particularly now they will face competitors for his signature.
However, the end of this road could lead to the start of a new one for Liverpool. With Daily Star, amongst many others, reporting that the reds could pursue the German Benedikt Howedes, this post will run through three different reasons why Jurgen Klopp should pursue him.
Top-level experience
With Liverpool’s return to the Champions League looking likely, it’s important that the reds focus on bringing in players that match that sort of mentality. They have a squad with bags of talent, however, only a select few have the winners mindset and that’s a huge weak spot.
They need to bring in players who have experience at the top-level and let’s face it, you can’t get much more top-level than playing in a World Cup final.
He was part of the Germany team that lifted the World Cup in 2014 amongst many world-class talents. Although trophies are a team effort rather than individual brilliance, having worked with many world-class players could mean Benedikt Howedes would have a positive impact both on the pitch and off the pitch.
There’s still some oil in the tank
Howedes is 29 years old, this means he is in his prime years for a defender. Most defenders can go for longer than other players in different positions due to the position relying mainly on mental awareness, which only gets better with age.
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Liverpool could easily get a good five or six years out of Howedes should he keep in good condition and train correctly.
His age would also mean that Liverpool could get him for cheaper than the likes of Van Dijk, who is 26 years old. Of course, the fact that he’s playing in a different country and not for a league rival of Liverpool would also have a significant decrease in price.
Well, why not?
Leaving business until the latter stages of the window will always lead to this sort of problem.
Liverpool have remained so adamant on their pursuit of Van Dijk but what progress has actually been made? The furthest the reds have got with the Saints defender is a transfer request but as mentioned before, that will only entice rival teams, in particular, Chelsea.
Personally, I believe Van Dijk is of a superior calibre to Howedes but there’s no denying the talent of Howedes either.
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Only time will tell if Liverpool decide to take any further action on the reports made with Howedes. One thing’s for sure, Liverpool will have all of their defensive vulnerabilities solved if they do welcome the German to the club this summer.