RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sources
Special midfielder sends massive come and get me plea to Liverpool
A midfielder has confirmed he's ready to join Liverpool.
Liverpool's transfer window has fallen well short of expectations so far.
There are still some pretty obvious weaknesses across the squad that need addressing before the season gets going, yet meaningful progress in the market has been difficult to see.
Andoni Iraola actually acknowledged that himself during his first press conference. Liverpool's new head coach admitted that the squad still needed strengthening and made it clear that work was being done behind the scenes to bring in the players required.
At the time, that was fairly reassuring. At least it suggested Liverpool knew where the problems were and had a plan to fix them.
Since then, though, there has been very little to suggest the club is actually any closer to doing so.
Victor Munoz remains the only major addition, while most of the transfer headlines have instead focused on deals falling apart, targets choosing other clubs and plenty of uncertainty over what Liverpool do next.
The biggest disappointment has undoubtedly been Yan Diomande.
Liverpool had identified the highly-rated winger as one of their main targets and saw him as someone who could bring exactly what the attack is currently missing: pace, unpredictability and the ability to beat defenders one-on-one.
There was genuine optimism that Liverpool could get the deal done.
Instead, Diomande chose Real Madrid, leaving the Reds back at square one in their search for another attacking player.
And with the clock now ticking, the club has little room for further mistakes.
But it's not just an attacker they need to find.
Iraola needs players who can fit his intense, aggressive style of football, yet Liverpool still have obvious weaknesses across the squad. The new manager cannot be expected to work miracles if the tools available to him are not good enough.
The midfield is probably the clearest example of just how much work Liverpool still have to do before the transfer window closes.
Curtis Jones is set to sign for Inter Milan. Alexis Mac Allister is facing questions of his own future, and he is attracting interest from clubs.
Even if both players remained at Anfield beyond the end of the window, Liverpool should still be looking at midfield reinforcements. The issue is not necessarily a lack of quality, but whether the current options are the right fit for what Andoni Iraola wants to build.
Iraola demands a huge amount from his midfielders. His teams are expected to play with relentless intensity, pressing aggressively, recovering possession quickly and covering enormous amounts of ground. There also needs to be the energy to transition forward at speed once the ball has been won.
Liverpool have plenty of technical ability in midfield. What they arguably lack is the athleticism, dynamism and sheer running power required to make Iraola's football work consistently.
That could become a major issue over the course of a long season. It proved to be an issue against Newcastle in their opening game of the campaign.
Adding more energy to the midfield would give Iraola greater flexibility and allow Liverpool to play at the intensity he wants without placing too much responsibility on the same group of players.
And that is why the midfield should be one of the club's biggest priorities before the window closes.
Liverpool have been credited with strong interest in Lamine Camara who would tick a lot of boxes for Iraola in terms of his style of play and he confirmed that he is the perfect next signing for the club with his brilliant performance at Anfield over the weekend.
Camara played with a lot of intensity and energy and he completed the most passes (48) while he was on the pitch. On top of that he won two out of three ground duels and made seven recoveries, which was again the highest in midfield while he was on the pitch.
The Senegalese midfielder followed this up with an incredible goal in a Europa Conference League qualifier against Gornik Zabrze that was very Fabinho esque and it once again confirmed he's ready to join Liverpool.
But the biggest come and get me plea performance from the young midfielder was over the weekend in a game for AS Monaco against Auxerre in Ligue 1, in which Camara won nine (!) tackles. Yes, you heard that right NINE.
After the game, his manager, Filipe Luis was in complete awe of him.
"In 20 years of career I have never seen that. He is a very different player. His ability to manage the pitch, his concentration… he has a level very very above average," he said.
Just get the deal done Richard Hughes. There's nothing more Camara can do to show that he is the perfect option for the Reds.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.