Liverpool have spent the majority of their summer transfer window so far concentrating on refreshing their midfield rebuild ahead of next season and Jurgen Klopp will be thrilled with the business done so far.
Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have joined the Merseyside giants to make their mark on the next generation of success at Anfield, following the departure of Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Whilst repairing the glaring issues in the centre of the pitch has been the main priority for the German coach, there is certainly a lot of speculation surrounding a potential move for a centre-back this summer too.
Joel Matip is now in the final year of his contract at the club, whilst Virgil van Dijk celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday so will soon be reaching the latter stages of his career. As a result, there is definitely a discussion to be had on a potential search for worthy candidates that could join Ibrahima Konate in the future of the defensive set up.
Liverpool have been linked with a number of centre-backs in the past few weeks with Josko Gvardiol, Micky van de Ven, Marc Guehi and Perr Schuurs named as potential signings for the club.
However, there is one player who has been hitting the headlines this week who could be an incredible signing, as Chelsea star Levi Colwill is the latest defender to be linked with a move to Merseyside and he could be a great replacement for Joe Gomez.
How good is Levi Colwill?
The left-footed defender has had an incredible weekend after winning the U21 European Championships with England last night which was the first time the nation’s youth team had won the tournament in 39 years.
England beat Spain 1-0 in the final clash and Colwill played a huge part in the achievement and was part of the defensive set up who didn’t concede a single goal in the entire tournament.
Over five appearances for England U21s, the 20-year-old tallied up an impressive 91% pass completion rate and won a whopping 71% of his duels, suggesting that not only was he competent with the ball at his feet, but he was also excellent from a physical point of view.
Despite thriving and graduating from Chelsea’s infamous Cobham academy, Colwill is still yet to make a start in the Premier League for the West London club, however, he has demonstrated his attractive qualities and huge talent whilst on loan with both Huddersfield Town and more recently with Brighton and Hove Albion last season.
Joe Gomez remains a rotation option for Liverpool but is rarely trusted to front the back-line when Konate, Matip and Van Dijk are fit, which has led to speculation that the Reds could be open to selling the centre-back this summer.
As a result, the signing of Colwill – who Brighton are reportedly preparing a £40m bid for – could not only provide Klopp with a worthy replacement for Gomez which means he can be sold on without concern, but could also push Van Dijk for the left-sided role and ultimately be his successor.
When comparing the Chelsea rising star’s output last season to Gomez, Colwill has comfortably outperformed his Liverpool position competitor in a number of key defensive attributes including pass completion (88.3% v 85.2%), successful take-ons (100% v 80%) and aerial duels won (71.4% v 54.8%), as per FBref.
The English titan – who was hailed as “outrageous” and a “top talent” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – is a great prospect and his ball-winning capabilities would suit Klopp’s recipe for success perfectly, however, it remains to be seen whether Chelsea will part ways with their prized asset.
With that being said, it would likely take something extremely special for the London club to sanction a move away for Colwill this summer, but if Liverpool could secure his services it would undoubtedly set up the defensive presence for many years to come.
