Liverpool are closing in on a surprise move to sign Matheus Nunes from Sporting Lisbon as Jurgen Klopp faces a midfield injury crisis.
It’s been covered to death by now but injuries to Thiago Alacantara, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have hamstrung the Reds.
Without the three central midfielders injured, Klopp can select the following:
- James Milner (36)
- Harvey Elliott (19)
- Fabio Carvalho (19)
- Jordan Henderson (31)
- Fabinho (28)
- Naby Keita (27)
The latest Liverpool injury updates:
– Thiago tbd
– Curtis Jones (stress reaction) at least couple weeks out
– Diogo Jota (hamstring) hopefully by end of months. Being very prudent
– Naby Keita (ill) is training
– Konate (knee) at least a few weeks but tbd https://t.co/DbqaJJ290F— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) August 8, 2022
It’s not a bad array of talent but given the inexperience of Carvalho and Elliott and how prone to injury Milner, Henderson and Keita are, things could get progressively worse for Liverpool.
Luckily, it seems as though Matheus Nunes could join the club before the end of the summer transfer window.
All the reports surrounding the 23-year-old point towards a late move to Anfield in what could be a season-defining acquisition.
The Reds have had great success shopping Portugal with Luis Diaz propelling the side to an ultimately unsuccessful quadruple push while Darwin Nunez already looks at home in Klopp’s heavy metal outfit.
Nunez and Diaz already practicing goal celebrations? pic.twitter.com/QxRZuXHbhp
— LiverpoolGoals (@Liverpoolgoals_) August 5, 2022
Adding Nunes, who can play a variety of midfield roles and would add some real oomph to the engine room, could have a similar impact.
Liverpool are preparing a bid for Nunes, according to a report from Correio da Manha, which could be in the region of €50-€59M based on all the latest reports.
It would likely be accepted.
Sporting already accepted an offer from Wolves worth €50M (£42.2M) but other reports – such as Jornal de Noticias’ report that he is valued at €59M (£49.8M) – suggest he could cost more.
It would take Liverpool to unprecedented spending levels in a single summer and would show a real sign of faith from FSG, who are historically frugal.
A Bola claims he rejected a contract worth €11M (£9.2M) to wait for a move to Liverpool where he is able to play in the Champions League and challenge for the Premier League.
Despite interest from Wolves, Sporting midfielder Matheus Nunes is holding out for a club such as Liverpool because he wants to play in the Champions League and compete for silverware. [@cmjornal] pic.twitter.com/hOl6mJJM9B
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) August 8, 2022
Based on last season’s showing, if Jurgen Klopp signs the Portuguese midfielder, the Reds go one further and lift both the Champions League and Premier League in the same season for the first time under Klopp and the first time since 1983/84.
Darwin Nunez has already shown the world that he is going to be an incredible player for Liverpool and finally offers them a true no.9 to bully teams into submission.
We only saw him for 39 minutes against Fulham but he impact the game in a very tangible way, scoring and assisting and increasing Liverpool’s xG from 0.10 before he arrived on the pitch to 2.34 when the game finished.
Liverpool had accumulated just 0.10 xG across the whole game when Nuñez was subbed on against Fulham
They finished the game with 2.34 xG pic.twitter.com/vuckILSAXw
— Carson (@WC_LFC_Torres) August 10, 2022
The 23-year-old is going to be so dangerous against all kinds of defensive setups and I imagine it will take a while for teams to handle what will be on their plates.
He can run in behind, bully defenders in the air, make darting runs to the front post and spin fullbacks.
The list goes on.
And if Klopp adds Nunes to his starting XI, the German will have a creative but defensively robust no.8 to take to the next level.
