The most recent left-back target to make it onto Klopp’s radar is the young Monaco star Benjamin Mendy, but getting his signature won’t be easy.
No Liverpool fan, at this time last year, would have guessed that the Liverpool vice-captain, James Milner, would put in such a solid performance for the club at left-back. The team’s concerns with that position have gone back — if my math is right, it’s never been my best subject — about 800 years now, with Alberto Moreno’s questionable defending a continual liability on that wing.
However, at Klopp’s order last summer, James Milner stepped in and became the Reds’ number one left-back the whole season and did an admirable job, considering it was his first time playing in that position full time. No one thought this to be a long term solution to the problem, and now another summer transfer window has brought fresh interest in signing a new left-back for Liverpool.
The most recent rumour on the table is that Benjamin Mendy, the 22-year-old France international, may be on his way out of Monaco this summer. If this is the case, he’s said to be sought after by both Manchester clubs, who can also offer him Champions League football along with Liverpool. The player has only just finished the first of his five-year deal with the Ligue 1 club, however, so snatching him up will come with a price.
Manchester City is said to be offering £39million for the player, a hefty fee, but one that City can afford. Whether Liverpool are willing to match this high offer remains to be seen. Right now the club appears to be monitoring and considering several left-back targets, and it’s likely that they’ll begin to hone in on one or two main targets as the summer progresses.
Of course, that’s what we said last year too. Time will tell what Klopp and the transfer market have in mind for this key position, and James Milner’s Liverpool future.