Liverpool will be keen to avoid repeating the mistakes they made while trying to sign Moises Caicedo ahead of the January window where Andre Trindade is expected to be their top priority. Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have made a steady start to life at Anfield as part of Jurgen Klopp’s overhauled midfield unit.
It might have looked vastly different had Liverpool won the race to sign Caicedo from Brighton. But the whole transfer saga ended in an ugly mess for Liverpool, who also ended up missing out on Romeo Lavia.
Gravenberch was ultimately signed after those chaotic few weeks for the Reds and they’ll want to avoid something similar happening in the New Year. Liverpool have utilised the January market in the past few years now with both Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz arriving and making an instant impact at Anfield.
Both times saw Liverpool get the deal over the line quickly when it became clear an agreement was possible. That’s not what happened in the case of Caicedo in the summer as it was clear throughout the offseason that Brighton were willing to sell the midfielder.
Only when Chelsea practically had an agreement in place did Liverpool try to snap up Caicedo at the last minute in what appeared to be a frantic attempt to beat their rivals to the punch. That’s not how Liverpool have been known to operate under Klopp’s guideship and he’ll want things back on track in January when they’re expected to go for Andre.
Delaying any sort of deal to sign the 22-year-old could leave the door open for other clubs to swoop in and spark a bidding war. Liverpool won’t want that to happen and getting a deal done early will go a long way to putting the Caicedo saga behind them.
Signing Andre would complete Liverpool’s midfield rebuild in the space of a few months with the Brazilian set to fill the club’s need for a defensive-minded midfielder. He might be needed as well with Endo expected to play for his country at the AFC Asian Cup in January.
The competition is held every four years and takes place between January 12 and February 10 in Qatar. With key fixtures against Chelsea and Arsenal in the space of just a few days, Klopp will need to rotate his squad to give his side the best chance.
By bringing Andre in early, Klopp will have the chance to get him up to speed quickly with a mini pre-season during the winter break. But mess around like they did with trying to sign Caicedo and Liverpool could find themselves embroiled in another frantic transfer saga.
