Agreement reached, African star can join Liverpool for €40m

An African star could join Liverpool for a bargain having reached an agreement.

This transfer window is starting to become an uncomfortable one for Richard Hughes. With every passing week, there is a growing sense that Andoni Iraola is being handed an impossible task.

Everyone knew the Spaniard wasn't inheriting a perfect squad. That was never the expectation. The hope was that the summer transfer window would give Hughes the chance to reshape the team and build a squad capable of playing Iraola's high-intensity style.

Instead, Liverpool have spent much of the window chasing Bradley Barcola and Yan Diomande. Diomande has now turned the club down, while Paris Saint-Germain continue to play hardball over Barcola's valuation, leaving negotiations dragging on with no guarantee of success.

Meanwhile, the problems already within the squad have been left largely untouched.

With just over two weeks until Liverpool begin their Premier League campaign, the squad still looks worryingly light in several key areas.

Defence is the biggest concern. Jeremy Jacquet and Joe Gomez are both currently sidelined with injuries, Giovanni Leoni is still working his way back after the serious ACL injury he suffered last season, and Conor Bradley is expected to be unavailable for at least another couple of months.

That has left Iraola piecing together makeshift back lines throughout pre-season rather than building the partnerships and understanding he desperately needs.

Injuries can happen at any club, but Liverpool's lack of depth means a handful of absentees have already exposed how fragile the squad is.

As things stand, Virgil van Dijk is the only senior centre-back fully available to Iraola.

Ifeanyi Ndukwe has done an excellent job throughout pre-season and has looked more than capable when called upon. But there's a catch. He doesn't currently meet the work permit requirements to remain at Liverpool next season, meaning a loan move is the most likely outcome.

That leaves Mor Talla Ndiaye and Luke Chambers, two promising youngsters who are both arguably more comfortable operating on the left side of the defence rather than as central defenders.

Yes, the situation should improve. Jeremy Jacquet's injury isn't expected to keep him out for long, Joe Gomez is closing in on a return, and Giovanni Leoni should soon be back in training. But Liverpool simply cannot convince themselves that this is enough depth for a season in which they want to compete on every front.

Gomez's injury record speaks for itself. He has missed significant chunks of football almost every season and, harsh as it sounds, Liverpool cannot build their defensive plans around the hope that he stays fit.

If you take that into account, Iraola is effectively left with Van Dijk, Jacquet and Leoni as his recognised centre-back options. The problem? Neither Jacquet nor Leoni has played a single minute of Premier League football, and both are only just returning from injury.

The concerns don't stop there. At right-back, Conor Bradley is once again sidelined after another injury setback. Across his three seasons with Liverpool's first team, he has missed more than 20 matches through injury every single campaign. His talent has never been in doubt, but his availability certainly has.

That leaves Jeremie Frimpong as the obvious alternative, yet asking him to operate as a conventional right-back week after week would expose his weaknesses. He's at his best when he's allowed to attack, not when he's pinned back defending his own penalty area.

For all the focus on signing another winger, Liverpool also need to find a player who can provide depth at the back.

An ideal profile would be Wilfried Singo who has played as a right-back and as a centre-back, and he is reportedly on Liverpool's radar.

According to Football Muse, he even has an agreement with his club Galatasaray to leave for €40m but this will only come into effect in 2027.

So, the African star could join Liverpool but not until January. Perhaps that is why the club are waiting it out and now moving for anyone. Maybe they're just waiting to activate that €40m to bring Singo to Anfield in six months and ride it out until then with the options they have.