Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Want Gary Medel

With rumours of Galatasaray interest in Lucas Leiva rumbling along, Liverpool could soon find themselves in need of a defensive specialist in midfield for those opponents and situations when manager Jürgen Klopp needs somebody in to shut down the opposition first.

Queue rumours in Chile that Liverpool are showing interest in midfield enforcer Gary Medel, who Inter Milan recently put on the chopping block. Medel also has experience playing as a centre half for his country, but it is as a midfield destroyer that Liverpool would be interested in him.

After a less than stellar turn in the Premier League with Cardiff in 2013-14, Medel headed to Inter Milan in a £10M deal two summers ago. In his time at the Italian club he has made 78 appearances across all competitions and notched a solitary goal—a winner against Roma last October.

As a rotational option, Liverpool could certainly do worse than the 28-year-old Chilean mainstay. Plus, his ability to fill in at multiple positions could be handy if the club were hit with an injury crisis mid-season. Still, one has to ask whether it’s a move Medel would especially want.

Inter are putting him up for sale because they don’t see him as a guaranteed starter this season and don’t want to invest significant wages in a back up. Liverpool, with more to spend, wouldn’t have those concerns. Medel, on the other hand, one imagines would rather go somewhere to start.

With Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, and even James Milner—who Jürgen Klopp appears to consider a central midfielder as much as an attacking one—likely to be ahead of him on the depth chart, Medel would be taking over the role of backup from Lucas and, perhaps, Joe Allen.

Depending on other moves, that would make him fourth-choice at best. For Liverpool, that’s a compelling proposition. For Medel, still in the prime of his career and as a player who values his key role for Chile, it seems like a non-starter.