Liverpool Must Sign Blaise Matuidi Instead Of Naby Keita

As the weeks drag on and RB Leipzig remains unmoved, the chances of Naby Keita moving to Liverpool are diminishing rapidly. Jurgen Klopp is reportedly willing to part with around £70 million to bring him to Anfield but this, it seems, will not be enough, despite the fact that Leipzig will be forced to sell the Guinea international for £48 million next summer when his release clause comes into effect. Leipzig seem perfectly willing to lose out on a large profit, making it highly unlikely they will cave under the pressure before the September deadline.

There are alternative options, and it is time for Klopp to consider them. Liverpool’s most alarming tactical deficiency last season was the absence of high-tempo, vertical football in central midfielder, where Emre Can and Lucas Leiva regularly slowed down Liverpool attacks with sideways passing. Klopp’s tactical style requires frantic pressing mixed with piercing dribbles and quick, one-touch passing; with Can or Lucas in the middle, defensive opponents found it easy to drop back and recover their formation. This is why Lucas has been allowed to leave, and why the search for a new, athletic central midfielder must be successful this month. Liverpool’s title challenge depends on it.

Leon Goretzka and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could both perform a Keita-esque role in the middle, but given Leipzig will be forced to sell in 12 months – and Liverpool is the player‘s preferred destination -  then it makes more sense to look for a cheap, short-term alternative. Paris Saint-Germain’s Blaise Matuidi is the perfect option.

The Frenchman, 30, is one of many PSG players likely to leave this summer as they try to recoup some of the £198 million spent on Neymar, and since Matuidi has just 12 months remaining on his contract it makes perfect sense to cash in now.

Liverpool is the ideal destination. Matuidi is an athletic, box-to-box central midfielder who excels when given licence to slalom up and down the pitch, using his elasticity to intercept the play and quickly distribute the ball into the forwards. His directness, and unusually proficient dribbling skills for a central midfielder, make him a more experienced alternative to Keita; it is telling that PSG manager Unai Emery played him so regularly last season (particularly in Europe), given that he and Klopp share a relatively similar tactical philosophy. Matuidi will immediately understand the German’s instructions.

The statistics support this theory. Matuidi cannot match Keita’s dribbling stats from 2016/17 (the PSG midfielder averaged just 0.6 per game compared with Keita’s 2.7), but that is largely because the Frenchman was instructed to play a more defensive game than usual last campaign. Marco Verratti and Adrien Rabiot were given more freedom than Matuidi, who instead focused on protecting the back four and shuttling the ball quickly into the more creative forwards. Significantly, he averaged 2.9 tackles per game across eight Champions League appearances in 2016/17, more than Keita, Can, or Lucas managed in any competition. In a freer, more attacking role at Liverpool, Matuidi’s stats are likely to rise to match those of the Leipzig midfielder.

There is little doubt that Keita would be the better addition, and could even transform Liverpool into title contenders overnight, but assuming Liverpool will have to wait until next summer they should quickly make a move for PSG’s Matuidi. He has the intelligence, athleticism, and leadership qualities that are desperately lacking at Anfield – and would be the perfect stopgap for 2017/18.