Liverpool linked with Sevilla defender, should they pursue it?

Bengaluru, June 15: Liverpool have been strongly linked with Sevilla centre-back Diego Carlos once again ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window. The 27-year-old has seen himself linked with the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent months while a potential Liverpool move was also strongly reported in January although it did not materialise.

Now that Dejan Lovren seems to be on his way out of Anfield in the summer, it is pretty much given that Liverpool would be looking for options at centre-back and Carlos seems to be the their preferred target.

There is hardly any doubt the Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in the world right now and his position at the left-hand side of the centre-back pairing is pretty certain. And, with Joe Gomez finally being able to sustain his fitness and form, the young English defender is the preferred choice of Klopp alongside van Dijk.

Joel Matip is the first-choice deputy of the duo who is also a top-class defender. The next one in the queue has been Lovren but with Liverpool strongly competing on all fronts, Gomez, Matip and even Lovren get plenty of game time. Lovren's 1173 minutes playing time is a strong testament to that.

With Lovren strongly linked with an exit from Liverpool with the likes of Arsenal and Roma mongering a move as per reports, it is likely that Klopp will seek a new defender to have at least four senior centre-backs in his side as we all know that both Gomez and Matip are fairly susceptible to injuries. Youngsters Sepp Van Der Berg and Ki Jana.

However, both have shown glimpses of promise already but it would be quite a big gamble from Klopp if he shows that much reliance on the young Dutch duo as the fourth and fifth choice senior centre-backs.

Diego Carlos seems to be the ideal fit for Liverpool due to his style of play which is a bit of blend of that of Gomez and Van Dijk. The Brazilian is similar in stature to Gomez and is an incredible athlete just like the Englishman. One of the main reasons why Gomez is ahead of Matip in the pecking order at Liverpool is due to his speed and athleticism which allows Liverpool to play with an incredibly high line.

Matip might be a brilliant ball-playing defender often showing his skillset by making strides forward from defence but his recovery speed is not the best making Liverpool a bit vulnerable on the break.

With Carlos, Liverpool will have a like for like defender who can compete with Gomez for a starting place alongside van Dijk. The Brazilian also boasts extraordinary qualities of a ball-playing defender. There is a reason why he is so much in demand despite not yet playing a full season with Sevilla yet and that is an excellent vision which makes him capable of playing van Dijk-esque Hollywood passes effortlessly.

The 27-year-old has completed 87.31% of the attempted 45.77 passes per 90 minutes in La Liga and 31.2% of those have been forward passes which shows how brilliant of a progressive passer the Brazilian is.

The 27-year-old has completed 51.2% of the long passes he has attempted this campaign which is again a remarkable figure. Virgil van Dijk's accuracy in the same department has been 55.9% while Gomez's average is 53.1% but it is safe to say that Gomez does not attempt too many fancy passes at all with van Dijk alongside him pulling the strings with much more precision.

In terms of ball-playing abilities, Carlos certainly does excel but he might find the physicality of Premier League a bit tough as he has won just 2.55 aerial duels per 90 and in his final season in France, that figure was 2.78.

In comparison, Gomez has won 2.7 aerial duels per 90 minutes this season whereas van Dijk, Lovren and Matip have averaged 4.6, 4.8 and 5.1 respectively. Here lies the only negative aspect of the 6 feet 1 inch tall Brazilian as he can be identified as an aerial target of the opposition if he joins Liverpool.

Carlos is believed to have a £70m release clause in his Sevilla contract and even in such a trying time with the world dealing with the financial impact of coronavirus, Sevilla are unlikely to lower their demands drastically in the much-coveted defender, it seems unlikely that Liverpool would spend so much on the 27-year-old defender.

They had to pass on the opportunity of signing their priority target Timo Werner for just £53 million to Chelsea which made it even more clear that Liverpool would not spend too much this summer. So as it seems, it could be Sepp Van Der Berg and Ki Jana Hoever's golden opportunity next season a bit earlier that the duo had probably expected.