Liverpool haven’t exactly kept their desires for Martin Zubimendi a secret, with renewed rumours that they would look to again try and secure his services at the earliest possible opportunity.
But a real spanner got thrown into the works over the weekend as the Spanish international was forced off during Real Sociedad’s 3-0 win over Leganes just after the start of the second half.
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With what Mundo Deportivo are calling a injury “in the right dorsal lumbar region” (read that as ‘lower back’), it does bring the potential of a Zubimendi transfer into immediate doubt.
Which brings about the question - what do Liverpool do if they can’t sign their desired man?
Here’s three alternatives should Liverpool look elsewhere.
Aurelien Tchouameni
Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to Liverpool fans. The Reds’ liking of the player has been well-established.
So much so that there were rumours just last month that Liverpool made contact with the French star’s representatives to discuss a potential move.
Madrid seem to not see Tchouameni as the long-term heir to the recently-retired Toni Kroos and their snobbery could be Liverpool’s significant gain.
Turning 25 in January, the defensive midfielder is about to embark into the prime of his career. He’s already demonstrated incredible talent, being a world-class level tackler and distributor of the ball in the Zubimendi mould.
Joey Veerman
PSV’s resident midfield maestro would be an interesting proposition for the Reds for multiple reasons.
Firstly is the way he’d fit into the midfield. Zubimendi is a head-scratching proposition because the interest in him came when Liverpool had no idea who was going to fill their defensive midfield.
Then along came Ryan Gravenberch who went from odd man out to world’s best defensive midfielder in a matter of two weeks.
Veerman, however, has split time in his career roughly 2:1 in central midfield to defensive midfield. As a result, he could provide cover for both Gravenberch and the Mac Allister/Jones role as a more traditional number eight without demanding the start over any of them.
And as the player who created the most big chances in Europe last season, he would rival Zubimendi's all-roundedness which Arne Slot clearly wants in his midfield.
Ederson
Atalanta’s midfield maestro presents a little bit of a different proposition as a Zubimendi alternative.
He is a separate player profile, spending his time a little bit higher up the pitch and being more creative than Liverpool’s main target.
But nevertheless, Liverpool have been linked to the player again as recently as last month.
His 7.25 progressive passes per-90 outrank Zubimendi’s by almost exactly one, as does his 2.97 shot creating actions per-90.
The difference can again be seen in 2.25 tackles and interceptions per-90 than Zubimendi’s 4. This is probably was Zubimendi is the preferred choice, due to his more well-roundedness.
Yet, he would still be a worthwhile addition to Arne Slot’s midfield, whose primary role is to progress the ball into wide areas for the dynamic attackers to work their magic.
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