John Arne Riise would be behind his former club Liverpool making a move for Borussia Dortmund’s Germany international Nico Schlotterbeck
Liverpool have been told they may need to raid the Bundesliga again to find their long-time replacement for talismanic captain Virgil van Dijk. That’s the verdict of former Reds hero John Arne Riise, who has been assessing his old club’s centre-back options.
The Reds bolstered that department in the summer when they signed highly-rated teenager Giovanni Leoni for an initial £26m from Parma. But had Crystal Palace not pulled the plug on deadline day, they would also have completed the £35m capture of Marc Guehi.
Leoni impressed on his Reds debut in September until disaster struck when he was stretchered off with an anterior cruciate ligament injury that will rule him out for the rest of the campaign.
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That has left Liverpool head coach Arne Slot short in the centre of defence and he has not been helped by the dips in form of Ibrahima Konate, who is about to enter the final six months of his contract.
Real Madrid are said to have ended their long-speculated interest in Konate but even if he signs or new deal or not, the Reds will need to buy another centre-back in the summer.
Guehi, who like Konate, will be a free agent come the end of the campaign, remains an option, but there have also been links to Borussia Dortmund’s Germany international Nico Schlotterbeck, whose deal is about to enter its final 18 months.
Liverpool committed more than £200m to buying talent from the Bundesliga in Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong in the summer.
And Riise said: “I like him and he might have the right mentality. I’d be hoping that Virgil van Dijk has one or two more years left in him, so I think if he arrived he would not be a straight replacement right away. I don’t see Van Dijk stopping just yet.
“But top clubs are always looking for more players to step in and increase competition for places. He’s someone who could come in and push more than just Vrigl and maybe also take a starting position at the back.
“Clubs like Liverpool, (Manchester) United, (Manchester) City, they are constantly looking for new players. Even if you have the best in the world in one position you always have to look for the next player who is coming through.
“Schlotterbeck could be on the list for Liverpool and they might move for him a year or so early so that they don’t lose a good player to another team.
“When I was at Liverpool, one of the hardest things was that you always knew that you will always be someone the club is thinking about replacing and thinking about getting competition for. I’m not surprised that they’re looking at Schlotterbeck.”
Konate, like many of his team-mates, has endured difficult moments this season, and Riise, speaking to footitalia.comfeers the France international may move on.
“The thing with Konate is that he can have unbelievable games and he can have games where he looks like he’s not there,” said the Norwegian, who won the Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup with Liverpool, making 348 appearances for the club and scoring 31 goals and making 36 more.
“I think it’s unlikely he signs a new deal, so the club will already be looking for central defenders for the next two windows.
“If he signs on, I think they probably only need one more defender, but if he leaves, then I’d expect they’d move for two from whomever is on their shortlist.
“But for Konate, he knows Slot’s system, he knows the club and the team, so I would give him a new contract. I still want one more centre-back joining the club so that there is competition to raise everyone’s level that little bit more.”
There is certainly competition in Riise’s former position of left-back after the £40m arrival of Milos Kerkez, who is battling for a starting spot with modern-day club legend Andy Robertson.
And Riise said of Kerkez, who is beginning to find his feet following his move from Bournemouth: “He took the No. 6 because I used to wear it, and so I texted him a few times after his move. I wished him well and all that kind of thing.
“You know, he’s a very aggressive player that hasn’t really shown his best yet. The one thing I see is that everything with him happens at 100 miles an hour. Sprinting, running, everything is always at a high tempo.
“I think that sometimes he can just maybe relax his playing style. I know that is who he is, but it looks so stressful sometimes. You can tell that he really wants to do well all the time, which is good. But sometimes he can maybe take more time.
“He’s been good in some games, others he’s struggled in. But I expect him to be fine because he knows the English game, and hopefully he will be more of an attacking threat also in the upcoming games.”
