:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/13272849/gyi0062021154.0.jpg)
There's little else happening the world of Liverpool other than the long kiss goodbye for Jamie Carragher--the offal's chock-full of tributes and quotes and revelations (he's still training!), and it's likely to continue through the weekend and the veteran defender's final match on Sunday against QPR. It's all fully deserved, of course, but it's crowded out the normal comings and goings of the pre-match, making for a slow end to the week for news not having to do with Carra.
One bit that's still somewhat related is the club's search for defenders to add over the summer; with Carragher gone and with the fates of both Martin Skrtel and Sebastian Coates up in the air, links with defenders across the continent have steadily grown over the past few weeks, and today the Liverpool Echo is running with information that the club are indeed hopeful of bringing Tiago Ilori to Merseyside, while also ruling out any actual interest in Lyon defender and Croatian internatinoal Dejan Lovren.
To boot, Ben Smith has confirmed that Liverpool's interest is much more than a rumor, despite anything being finalized:
@jzrenz Certainly keen on Tiago Ilori but nothing done yet.
— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) May 17, 2013
Add to that the earlier link from James Pearce and it certainly appears that Liverpool are trying to get a deal done fairly soonish, which is a stark contrast with how they addressed areas of need during the last window. What this deal wouldn't do, though, is fill the void Carragher leaves behind; at just 20 years old I don't know that he's ready to step in alongside Daniel Agger in central defense. He'd certainly be one for the future, although that leaves the present very much unsettled.
Some have reserved that mantle for another rumored target--21 year old Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopolous, who, while not being much older than Ilori, is vastly more established at the first-team level. Unlikely as it might be, if Skrtel and Coates do stick around, the additions of Papadopolous and Ilori would leave Liverpool on seemingly good footing in central defense, and that's ignoring the prospects of Martin Kelly and Andre Wisdom.
For now nothing's settled, but there's enough here to discuss, and definitely more than enough to give us reason to watch a video. Just please, for your own good, mute your sound. Nobody should have to listen to this type of horror.