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After a weekend of mostly dire news for Liverpool fans, here's a little ray of sunshine: as the January transfer window approaches, Liverpool are seriously considering a bid for Sporting Lisbon midfield starlet William Carvalho.
The 22 year old has been on a steady ascent up the football radar the last few years, and it seems more and more like a matter of just how much Sporting can get for him when they sell him, rather than if they can hold on to him any longer. Carvalho is considered arguably the brightest young defensive midfield talent in the game right now, using a combination of elite athleticism and very good tactical awareness to find significant success on the pitch.
Signing him won't be easy, however. It's believed that it will take over £35 million to get Carvalho, putting him in a financial bracket that's a little harder for Liverpool to swallow. Further complicating the matter is that the Portuguese midfielder has long been a target of Chelsea and Manchester United, with periodic rumors of interest from Real Madrid over the years as well.
If Liverpool can get him, though, they absolutely must. Lucas Leiva has been better of late, but he hasn't been the same dominant force in midfield that he was since his knee injury several years ago. Steven Gerrard is simply ont a defensive midfielder, no matter how much Brendan Rodgers tries to use the position to shoehorn him in to the lineup. Emre Can has found success in the role, but is better suited to a more box-to-box role in midfield. If Liverpool can get Carvalho's high-end talent in to their midfield, it could go a long ways towards helping improve the squad and performances.
This doesn't feel like a likely transfer to actually happen, but it's certainly one that Liverpool should try for. Carvalho is a good fit for the squad in terms of need and style, and his significant talent is always something you can find room for. If Liverpool can make it work financially (thanks for the stress, FFP), then they absolutely should try to make this happen.
