Liverpool are full to the brim with players in the engine room, so it’s surprising that Jurgen Klopp is still looking to ‘strengthen his midfield’ ahead of next season. According to The Athletic, the Reds ‘retain an interest’ in Matheus Nunes. Chelsea have been recently linked with him too.
The 24-year-old joined Wolverhampton Wanderers from Sporting last summer and has gone on to make 29 appearances in all competitions this campaign, grabbing one assist. Nunes has missed just one league game since making the switch, so he’s hit the ground running in his debut season.
Liverpool don’t have many box-to-box players like Nunes. Fabinho, Arthur Melo and Naby Keita are more defensive-minded. Curtis Jones, Thiago and Jordan Henderson are more technical. And Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner are energetic options. But the majority are currently injured or out of favour under Klopp, so there is a void for a new face.
Nunes would be fourth in the Liverpool squad for successful dribbles per game (1.1), fourth for fouls won per game (1.3) and third for tackles made per game (1.9), so he’d be a useful signing.
Melo has spent the season injured, making just one appearance before undergoing long-term surgery, so he’s not been a good loan acquisition. Keita has spent half the campaign out with a hamstring injury, starting just three league games.
Jones has amassed less than 200 minutes of football in the top-flight after falling down the pecking order. Thiago has missed 12 league games due to a hamstring injury and hip issue. Henderson has played in 23 of Liverpool’s 26 league games this season (88%), but he’s started only 14 of them (53.8%), amassing 1259 minutes from a possible 2340 (53.8%).
Oxlade-Chamberlain has started just four league games due to a lengthy hamstring injury and fitness woes in the new year, and Milner has started only six league games. Klopp needs some fresh legs, so their interest in Nunes makes a lot of sense.
The Portuguese international is valued at around £55m, so he’d be Liverpool’s third-most expensive signing if lured away from Wolves, behind Darwin Nunez (£85m from Benfica) and Virgil van Dijk (£75m from Southampton). Chelsea could challenge the Reds for Nunes too, so there might be a bidding war for the midfielders this summer.
