Déjà vu! Liverpool set to repeat £30m gamble

Liverpool appear set to repeat a £30m gamble. It could backfire spectacularly.

Rewind to 2020 - the last time Liverpool were heading into a transfer window after winning the title. Having not really spent anything the year before, the Reds splashed some cash.

Diogo Jota: Thank you

However, they didn't sign a centre-back. Liverpool lost Dejan Lovren, cutting them down to three senior options in Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez.

The idea was that injuries would be covered by Fabinho, who while not a centre-back, could probably play the odd game there. Liverpool would save a bit of money as a result and wait for their primary centre-back target, Ibrahima Konate.

It was a disaster. Liverpool watched their defenders drop like flies, with both Van Dijk and Gomez ruled out for the season after just two months.

Matip wasn't far behind - he was injured for the campaign before January was out. It completely derailed Liverpool's title charge.

They were top at Christmas, somehow, but then collapsed in spectacular fashion. It took a late run - and brilliance from Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips, to save the day.

Liverpool went from champions to scraping into the UEFA Champions League. A difference of £30m, if they'd ultimately fallen out of the running. And that's just in prize money - the gamble nearly cost them an absolute fortune given they nearly didn't have European football, either.

READ MORE: Diogo Jota's legacy is bigger than any of us realised

Liverpool risk it all again

So despite the above, Liverpool are ready to go again. Journalist David Lynch tells SportsMole that the Reds aren’t necessarily replacing Jarell Quansah in their squad.

That’s because they supposedly feel both Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch could do jobs there.

“It is certainly an option [that Liverpool do not buy a new centre-back], but I would hope not,” Lynch told the Sports Mole YouTube channel.

“I’ve spoken to people at Liverpool, and they have recently talked up the ability of Endo to play there occasionally, Gravenberch too, that makes me slightly concerned I have to say.”

Honestly, it sounds like madness. Liverpool need to find a new centre-back or they risk repeating 2020/21 all over again.

The extra pressure it puts on defenders - especially those with injury records like Gomez and Konate - is far too high. And Liverpool aren’t winning anything with either Endo or Gravenberch regularly playing centre-back.

READ MORE: How the gamer celebration became the world's way to honour Diogo Jota

So we’ll cross our fingers that this is simply Liverpool playing games in the transfer market. They need that centre-back.

Rest in peace, Diogo Jota.

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