Let’s scale back two years. Liverpool had completed their midfield rebuild under Jurgen Klopp and were primed for a new chapter, putting that bleak 2022/23 campaign to bed.
Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and co had gone past their sell-by dates, and FSG went full ham as they countered the midfield exodus with four interesting signings: Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.
Those additions led Klopp’s side back into the Champions League and saw the German cap off his Anfield dynasty with one final slice of silverware, beating Chelsea against injury-hit odds in the Carabao Cup final.
Arne Slot approached the recent summer market with a similar need for change.
Well, similar insofar as much money needed to be spent, but Liverpool had just won the Premier League and were supported by the many years of Klopp’s labours. This is supposed to be a successful season for the Reds.
And it still could be, but so much has gone wrong for Slot’s tactically imbalanced team, who have lost four matches in a row and lack any sense of confidence or coherence.
We could pick at any area of the field, but the midfielders have certainly left something to be desired in recent months.
Liverpool need a new midfielder
Two years on, FSG may need to shop once again for a high-level midfielder. While the Merseysiders have talented options in the engine room, the woes of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai’s new role at right-back suggest more physicality and press resistance could be added to ease Gravenberch’s burden.
The 26-year-old Mac Allister, in particular, has been dreadful this term, lacking his typical coolness and energy on the ball, that rare ability to marry technical elegance with combative physicality.
That simply hasn’t been there, with one Premier League noting that the Argentina international is “not up to scratch” at the moment, winning only one tackle per game and losing 57% of his ground duels, as per Sofascore.
It hasn’t been good enough, and while, candidly, part of Mac Allister’s struggle is down to mismanagement, there’s a sense that an upgrade is needed to add a much-needed dimension to the midfield.
Well, that man could arrive in the form of Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, with Spanish sources confirming this week that the France international could be on the move in 2026, an update which has certainly put Anfield’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, on alert.
Valued by Los Blancos at around €80m (equating to £69m), Camavinga is no longer considered untouchable by Xabi Alonso, and those in Spain believe an audacious January bid could be staged by the Premier League champions.
The 22-year-old has been in Madrid for over four years, but injuries and Alonso’s vision have opened the door for potential suitors. Manchester City and Manchester United both expressed interest this summer.
Why Camavinga could be an upgrade on Mac Allister
Camavinga was regarded as a wonder-kid when he first took steps onto the professional stage. Joining from Rennes for around £35m in 2021, he has since featured 186 times for the Spanish giants, winning two La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues.
Though the past year has been an effort to maintain regular fitness levels for Camavinga, he remains a world-class talent, a “duel-monster” in the words of analyst Raj Chohan, who could benefit from a change of scenery, joining a Liverpool team where he could foster his skills for many years to come.
His arrival would not knock Mac Allister from his prominent position, but it would give him competition, to be sure, and Camavinga might even come to be an upgrade down the line, with the statistics drawn from the past year certainly suggesting he has what it takes to outstrip him.
Goals
0.12
0.18
Assists
0.06
0.18
Touches
76.36
63.29
Pass completion (%)
90.1
82.7
Shot-creating actions
2.51
4.01
Progressive passes
5.07
5.64
Progressive carries
2.04
1.37
Successful take-ons
1.11
0.53
Recoveries
6.30
4.69
Tackles won
2.91
1.63
Interceptions
1.40
0.89
Aerials won
1.52
0.50
As you can see, Camavinga has played with a touch more completeness and energy than his Argentine counterpart over the past year, and that having suffered with injury problems all the while. He might actually boast a higher standard of quality than Mac Allister, and that is not to the Liverpool man’s discredit.
There is also the matter of age. Camavinga is only 22 years old, and with a wealth of elite experience at that.
He might be struggling for minutes and fluency at Real Madrid, but he’s so young and clearly such a talented midfielder, an expert on the ball and relentless in the challenge.
These are attributes shared with Liverpool’s No. 10, though there’s a case to be made that the Frenchman is even more complete in his midfield game, hailed for his “extraordinary qualities” by former Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who went on to claim his young star could “play anywhere on the pitch”.
Similar praise have been laid at Mac Allister’s feet in the Premier League. Shortly after the South American’s £35m transfer from Brighton to Liverpool, TNT Sports pundit Joe Cole described him as a “superstar” signing for the Reds, drawing attention to his own ability to “play anywhere” his manager wants him to.
Such dynamism. Though Liverpool would want to retain Mac Allister’s services for as long as they can, it’s clear he plays a role unlike any other in the Liverpool squad. To put that another way, he provides a dimension his teammates cannot mimic.
And, with that in mind, adding Camavinga to the fold might prove a stroke of genius on Hughes’ part. Real Madrid might want something in the ballpark of £69m, but Liverpool could take advantage of his injury struggles and seat on the Santiago Bernabeu fringe over the past 12 months.
Looking at how it could all transpire in the long run, Liverpool might strike a player who could yet grow into one of the best in the world, eclipsing a star in Mac Allister, who has already provided the club with a higher brand of technical midfield play than they had been treated to in the years before his signing.