Liverpool may be forced to review their January plans if Cheick Doucoure was in the frame to be targeted in the winter transfer window.
Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider now reports that a deal would be ‘impossible’ after the Malian ruptured his Achilles tendon during a 2-1 defeat to Luton Town.
The 23-year-old had been heavily linked to the Merseysiders in the summer, with the club instead opting to land Stuttgart’s Wataru Endo.
Would Liverpool have gone back in for Doucoure?
It seems highly unlikely, with all due respect to Doucoure, that our recruitment team would have pushed to secure his signature in the winter.
Whilst the former Lens man is admittedly being asked to play a different role to that which he was tasked with in France, Alexis Mac Allister’s superb start to the season leaves us in no doubt over Jurgen Klopp’s feelings on the matter.
The No.10 is very much a trusted quantity in this Liverpool squad – not merely just a placeholder until a pure No.6 comes along.
In that respect, and in a similar manner to how we likely feel about Andre Trindade, it will take a rather special operator in the holding midfield role to push ‘Macca’ out of the way.