Liverpool hero Mark Lawrenson believes Jurgen Klopp should look to Wolves captain Conor Coady, if he wants to sign a replacement for stricken Virgil van Dijk in the January transfer window.
The Dutchman could miss the entire season, and is certainly going to be out for a number of months, after tearing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament thanks to a challenge from Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside derby.
With Dejan Lovren having left in the summer, Klopp now has just Joel Matip and Joe Gomez as recognised senior centre-backs, with midfielder Fabinho also filling in at the heart of defence.
The Premier League champions may well move to sign another central defender in January to cover for Van Dijk’s absence and Lawrenson has suggested the former Liverpool man, Coady.
‘I would think Virgil will be out for the season,’ Lawrenson told the Argus. ‘I think it’s a write-off because you’ve got to get match fit and that’s almost impossible nowadays because they don’t play reserve team football.
‘If Liverpool are going to pay big money for somebody in January, they want absolutely ready-made. Conor Coady has had loads of shouts and he is a very good organiser who has played lots of games in the Premier League.’
Coady came through the academy at Liverpool, making two senior appearances for the Reds before leaving to join Huddersfield in 2014.
Since then the 27-year-old has moved to Wolves and become an integral part of their side in the Premier League, captaining the side and earning a call-up to the England team, winning three caps so far.
After Wolves’ victory over Leeds earlier this week, another former Liverpool man, Jamie Carragher, put it to Coady that he could be a target for Klopp and he deflected the interest.
‘I can’t believe you’ve just put this on me here, no!’ Coady told Carragher on Sky Sports. ‘I can’t believe it. Not at all, I love playing for this football club every single day.
‘We’ve just beat Leeds in an amazing, amazing game.’
However, Lawrenson feels the 23-year-old may not be the answer at this stage, as he is only playing his first season in the Premier League with the Seagulls.
‘Maybe it might be a bit early for Ben,’ said Lawrenson. ‘Would you spend that money thinking he might be ready in 18 months? I’m not sure,” he added on the Reds’ rumoured interest in the Brighton star.
‘But the great thing for the lad is he is going to have a fabulous future. It wouldn’t surprise me if, 18 months or two years down the line, he goes somewhere big, in inverted commas.
‘Whether it is Liverpool remains to be seen, but one thing with Klopp is he doesn’t give a damn how old you are.’
