They've done what? Surprise Liverpool deal is genuinely shocking

Liverpool have agreed a genuinely shocking deal. What exactly is the plan here?

There has long been uncertainty at centre-back for Liverpool. That dates back a couple of years now, in fact.

Go back to 2024 and Arne Slot has just taken over. Joel Matip had just decided to retire from the game but Liverpool never replaced him. Or at least, didn't do so that summer.

Liverpool then played through that entire season not knowing if Virgil van Dijk would stick around beyond it. He'd eventually sign a new two-year deal in April 2025 - but the uncertainty didn't stop there.

Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen, albeit with a buy-back clause, meaning Liverpool lost a homegrown player who had, just one year before, looked like their future in the role. In came Giovanni Leoni to push up Liverpool's options to four, even if he was an unproven kid. Of course, Leoni would badly injure his knee on debut, ruling him out for the campaign.

The bigger problem, though, was Ibrahima Konate's contract being set to expire in 2026. Liverpool spent all season trying to get him to sign a new one, only to fail and watch him jump to Real Madrid.

Jeremy Jacquet was signed to play with Konate back in the January, arriving this summer, but he was suddenly thrust into the first-XI role. And that's where things were on Friday afternoon.

Joe Gomez is injured again, has a terrible fitness record, and is out of contract in 2027. He's also difficult to replace given he's a homegrown player.

Van Dijk is the star of the team but is also out of contract in 2027, when he'll be 36. No one seems to have any idea if he's going to stick around or not.

Leoni is still only 19, has played one game in the last year and just 17 top-flight league games in his career. Liverpool believe he's a potential world-beater - but there's a long, long way to go.

Jacquet is 21 and like Leoni, wildly inexperienced. He's played 31 top-flight league games in his own career and doesn't exactly feel ready to jump into a regular role at a club competing for the highest honours. He's also, as of right now, an unknown quantity who's actually still recovering from a shoulder injury that cut last season short.

The two unproven players are also the only senior centre-backs locked down beyond this season. They're set to be Liverpool's future, though we don't actually know if they're good enough to handle the Premier League.

On top of that, Van Dijk is the only option who hasn't battled a serious injury in the last 12 months. In fact, all three other options have been out injured in this pre-season. And Van Dijk is 35.

Which brings us to Friday evening when the news broke that Liverpool had agreed a deal to sign Ronald Araujo from Barcelona on loan for the season. It's a shock deal that's come out of absolutely nowhere - and it's debate whether it makes any sense.

The logic is clear. Liverpool want a reliable, senior option who can start alongside Van Dijk but potentially move out of the way for Jacquet or Leoni. Araujo has title-winning experience and there's no question that he can deliver quality.

However, he is not reliable. Araujo played 1062 minutes in La Liga last season, so around 12 games-worth. The year before, that number was 759.

The Uruguayan has played more than 25 leagues games once in his entire career (30) and has played 40 in all competitions just once (43). Unsurprisingly, that was the same season.

Liverpool, then, haven't significantly boosted their reliability at the back with this deal. One in which they're, per Fabrizio Romano, covering the entirety of Araujo's wages.

They also haven't fixed their long-term problems. The 27-year-old is on loan with an expensive option to buy, meaning there's no real expectation that he'll be around longer than this season.

So again, Liverpool have signed a centre-back but without fixing either of their biggest concerns. It's a shocking deal anyway, given it's come out of nowhere, but it's also entirely unclear what the hope is.

That his injury concerns go away? And go away to such an extent that spending €55m on him makes sense on one year of evidence? It's incredibly unlikely, so what is this?