EXCL: What's going on with Liverpool's CB search? Plus thoughts on disappointing Jordan Henderson exit and Harry Kane potentially leaving the Premier League

A deep dive into the latest Liverpool FC stories and more.

Liverpool’s CB search can no longer be the priority

It’s gone a little quiet in terms of Liverpool links with centre-backs, and I think in an ideal world that is something they’d look at, but the priority for now is elsewhere. At the start of the window the priority was midfielders and that’s even more the case now with the surprise departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.

The pursuit of Romeo Lavia is ongoing, even if agreeing a deal with Southampton is proving challenging, and I think that now supersedes any urgency about getting a new central defender in. Still, if you look at the state of the defence at the moment, I think you can see it’s clear they could do with doing something - while it’s not exactly urgent due to the depth that the likes of Joel Matip and Joe Gomez provide, it’s certainly a medium-to-long-term issue, because Matip will be out of contract next summer, Gomez has struggled with both fitness and form, and of course Virgil van Dijk’s on the wrong side of 30. I’m a big fan of Ibrahima Konate but he’s had some injury troubles himself, so it is something that Liverpool would address in an ideal world, but that’s not where they find themselves right now.

In terms of players who’d fit the bill, it’s no secret that Liverpool liked Levi Colwill, though it now looks like he’s going to sign a long-term contract to stay at Chelsea. In the past I think they would also have been really keen on someone like Josko Gvardiol, but it looks like he’s going to Manchester City, so the pool of potential signings has already diminished. I think they’d need to look at someone who’s 21 or younger who could grow into the role taking over from Matip when he leaves, and later on Van Dijk.