Liverpool have been linked with Croatian World Cup hero Domagoj Vida.

The defender impressed in Russia during the last month and it’s now believed that Jurgen Klopp is willing to part with £20m to get the Besiktas man ahead of other interested parties like Everton, Atletico Madrid, West Ham United and Sevilla.

Bringing in another centre-back would make sense for the Anfield side.

Joel Matip’s season last term was halted due to injury. Joe Gomez has also suffered from injury issues since he signed for the Reds and could be better playing as a fullback. Ragnar Klavan doesn’t seem to fill anyone with confidence when it comes to defending in a full-time capacity in the Premier League.

Fellow Croat Dejan Lovren has had an inconsistent time of it since he joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2014. Some of his performances at the back have been heroic and others have been ridiculously bad as he’s been caught on the ball, failed to clear away chances and lacked the pace to catch certain pacy attackers.

He greatly improved by having £75m man Virgil van Dijk in beside him since January.

The Croatian international was a key member of both Liverpool’s and Croatia’s squads that went on to the Champions League and World Cup finals.

Yet you still look at Dejan as the weak-link against certain teams or forward lines.

Having another defender in there that can challenge for the centre-back jersey makes sense, especially if injuries take their toll again or Klopp wants to rotate things.

In Van Dijk, Liverpool are lucky that they have a composed defender that can seemingly play with anyone beside him. He’s quick, can win it in the and he can also take the ball out of defence. His style suits so many others that can play at the back.

So you’d imagine that the Dutchman would find it pretty easy to sit in alongside Vida. The Besiktas defender remained calm on most occasions in Russia, the same couldn’t always be said of Lovren who still at times looked nervy.

Having a new core in midfield that includes Fabinho and Naby Keita will also strengthen the team’s spine.

The other bonus is the fact that Vida would also be able to come in and play alongside Lovren, if anything were to happen to Virgil. Domagoj has the pace and footballing brain to cover for Dejan, if his teammates slips up or gets caught out. He’s also versatile enough to fill-in at right back.

Vida is a tough uncompromising defender, who isn’t scared of going in hard for a tackle and he’s also pretty decent in the air.

At the World Cup; he made just under a tackle per game, made on average 5.8 clearances, won 2.3 aerial duels and made 1.7 interceptions. He also managed a goal and an assist during the tournament.

There are a few things that could make the deal unlikely for Liverpool.

The former Dynamo Kiev man only signed for his Turkish employers in January and they could play hardball with the fee. It’s thought that the Super Lig club want £30m for the player.

That’s fairly steep for a player that just started sixteen league games in the last year. You then have to factor in the fact that he’s the same age as Lovren, both being twenty-nine years of age. Klopp might prefer spending the cash on a younger prospect.

The centre-back has also had a few run-ins with previous coaches and Klopp doesn’t have much patience for that kind of thing, just ask Mamadou Sakho.

You also can’t discount that the Liverpool hierarchy might decide that the money could be spent better in other positions, notably on a new goalkeeper. Reports have once again heavily linked the Merseyside giants with a £62m move for AS Roma number one Alisson.

If a deal can be agreed with Besiktas that won’t go much higher than the £20m currently on offer, then I think signing Domagoj Vida could be great for the Liverpool squad as he’d add more strength in depth in the defensive positions.

Posted on July 17th, 2018 by scott
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