The Sun is reporting that Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool boss, has entered the hunt for Barcelona centre-back Jeremy Mathieu. A lack of depth in the Liverpool back line has become alarmingly apparent in recent weeks, with the departures of Kolo Toure, who has joined Celtic, and Martin Skrtel who has moved to Fenerbahce.
This is all compounded by achilles injuries to both Mamadou Sakho, recently back from a doping ban, and Joe Gomez. This leaves Klopp in a situation where Liverpool’s only options at centre back are Dejan Lovren, and summer signing Joel Matip.
Mathieu, 32, has attracted interest from Turkish side Besiktas as well as Liverpool. The player himself, however, would prefer a move to the Premier League. The French international can also play at left back, along with his usual centre-back role.
Such versatility will make him an invaluable option for Jurgen Klopp, with Liverpool currently struggling to make up the numbers all across the defence.
Despite playing 21 times in La Liga last season, Barcelona’s recent signing of Mathieu’s fellow French international centre-back Samuel Umtiti along with their reported interest in PSG star Marquinhos, suggests that there may no longer be a regular place in the first team squad at the Camp Nou for Mathieu.
Will Mathieu be a game changing signing? Probably not. Will he play consistently? Not unless Liverpool encounter more injury problems. But this doesn’t mean that he can’t be a good signing and provide valuable experience to the squad.
Having played for Barcelona for 2 years, and before that for Valencia since 2009, Mathieu has a vast amount of experience in playing for sides that routinely challenge at the top of their league.
With Transfermarkt valuing the centre back at just £8.5M, it would hardly break the bank to bring Mathieu to Merseyside. Given Liverpool’s struggles defensively over the past few years, signing an experienced defender for a low price to act as cover appears to be a great move, one they should definitely follow through with.
