Liverpool kept their powder dry in the January transfer window as they, once again, didn’t add to their squad.
It’s now been 18 months since Liverpool made any meaningful first-team signings after two quiet January transfer windows in a row alongside a quiet summer too.
Liverpool, of course, did bring Federico Chiesa in during the summer, but the winger has barely played since arriving at Anfield and Chiesa has already been linked with a move away.
Speaking on The Overlap, Jamie Carragher has been discussing the idea of Liverpool potentially signing Lucas Paqueta after recently watching him for West Ham.
Carragher says that Paqueta is talented enough to play for a team like Liverpool, but he’s not sure if he lacks the athleticism required to play for such a high-octane team.
Lucas Paqueta may be too slow for Liverpool
Carragher shared his verdict on Paqueta potentially coming to Liverpool.
The pundit hailed the £51m man for his ability, but he questioned whether or not he’s athletic enough for a team like Liverpool.
Interestingly, Jurgen Klopp actually praised Paqueta last season.
“I was watching Paqueta thinking ‘oh my’ when he brought the ball down everytime on his chest or his shoulder. He was like a bit of a throwback.
“I was actually thinking, would Liverpool sign him. I know City tried to sign him, but I look at a sort of lack of athleticism in some ways and think would that stop a top team signing him.
“I’m not Szoboszlai’s biggest fan, but he has great athleticism. He gets talked about as our number 10 and people say ‘oh he’s great off the ball.’ But he’s our number 10. He’s scored three goals as our number 10, but I was thinking that Slot would actually prefer Szoboszlai to Paqueta,” Carragher said.
Lucas Paqueta compared to Dominik Szoboszlai
Carragher says that he’s not sure if Paqueta is athletic enough for a team like Liverpool, pointing towards Dominik Szoboszlai as a player who is more in-tune with Arne Slot’s style of play.
However, the numbers suggest that Paqueta is actually very good off-the-ball, even if he doesn’t cover ground as efficiently or as quickly as Szoboszlai.
| Lucas Paqueta | Dominik Szoboszlai | |
| Goals per game | 0.15 | 0.11 |
| Assists per game | 0.11 | 0.07 |
| Interceptions per game | 0.6 | 0.42 |
| Duels won per game | 6.5 | 2.9 |
| Ball recoveries per game | 5.4 | 4.8 |
In terms of interceptions, duels won and ball recoveries, Paqueta is right up there with Szoboszlai, as well as dominating the statistics in terms of goals and assists too.
Paqueta is certainly good enough for a team like Liverpool, and who knows? After going so long without making any major signings, perhaps this is the type of player the Reds could go after in the summer.
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