David Lynch ‘slightly concerned’ by what he’s heard from Liverpool about centre-back situation

David Lynch has said that he’s ‘slightly concerned’ by what he’s heard from inside Liverpool about the current lack of centre-back depth.

Following the sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen and the injury to Joe Gomez which saw him leave the Reds’ pre-season tour, Arne Slot is left with just two bespoke central defenders in his first-team squad (Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate).

The dearth of options saw Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas deployed out of position either side of half-time in the defeat to AC Milan on Saturday, when we conceded four goals and looked worryingly vulnerable on the counterattack.

Liverpool could soon make an approach to Crystal Palace for Marc Guehi, but there appears to be a belief from within the club that the solution to a future centre-back crisis may already be in situ at Anfield.

Lynch ‘concerned’ about Liverpool’s centre-back situation

Lynch was speaking to Sports Mole when the possibility of Wataru Endo being utilised mainly in defence rather than midfield was put to him, and he wouldn’t be in favour of that as a long-term tactic.

The journalist said: “It is certainly an option, but I would hope not. I’ve spoken to people at Liverpool, and they have recently talked up the ability of Endo to play there occasionally, and Gravenberch too. That makes me slightly concerned, I have to say.”

Liverpool can’t risk a repeat of 2020/21 crisis

Lynch is right to be alarmed by the current centre-back situation at Anfield, and his comments aren’t disrespectful to the two players that he namechecked, but rather highlighting how problematic it could be if midfielders are asked to play in defence for a large chunk of the upcoming season.

You only need to look back to the last time that Liverpool were reigning Premier League champions for verification that such an approach isn’t viable. Amid a horrific centre-back injury crisis in that campaign, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson were forcibly deployed in defence, a necessary but unsuccessful experiment.

In the end, the inexperienced duo of Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams commendably stepped up to help the Reds salvage Champions League qualification, but Slot simply can’t afford to be such a hostage to fortune in 2025/26.

For all the money that LFC have spent this summer (and it appears to be shrewd investment), it’s indeed concerning that our centre-back options are now much more threadbare than they had been at the end of last season.

We might get away with playing Gravenberch or Endo in defence for the odd game here and there, but it surely can’t be viewed as a fixed solution over a lengthy period of time, and Lynch’s fears are fully justified.

FSG don’t tend to leave things to chance when it comes to recruitment, so we expect the Anfield hierarchy to make a serious push for someone like Guehi in the final month of the transfer window.

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