Liverpool have reportedly turned their attention to Brighton’s Moises Caicedo after growing frustrated with Southampton’s valuation of Romeo Lavia. 

The club unexpectedly lost both club captain Jordan Henderson and first-choice defensive midfielder Fabinho to the growing influx of cash from Saudi Arabia.

They arguably have enough options to replace the former internally, but they lack a recognised ‘6’ at the time of writing. 

With their Premier League opener just days away, it is a situation that needs addressing rapidly, so that the addition can get up to speed with the Reds intense play-style.

Liverpool have often moved for a more expensive player, if they feel that he is better value for money than their first-choice target, and in this case it makes perfect sense.

Why is Caicedo the better choice?

Despite both having breakthrough seasons last campaign, Caicedo played 910 minutes (the equivalent of 10 matches) more than the Belgian. 

A potential caveat to that is that Caicedo is two years older than Lavia, although at just 21, he still fits into the age bracket that Liverpool look for in a new recruit.

Last season, he excelled at the base of Roberto De Zerbi’s 4-2-3-1, allowing either Pascal Gross or Alexis Mac Allister to be more progressive, whilst he mopped up behind them. 

He is in elite company when it comes to ball retention, as per The Athletic his turnover rate (possessions lost as a share of total touches) compared to other midfielders who had over 2000 touches of the ball, was just 12.6%. 

To put this into perspective, only Rodri (9.4%) and Fabinho (11.7%) had less, and Caicedo ranks lower than the likes of Declan Rice (14.5%), Thomas Partey (14.5%)  and Bruno Guimaraes (20%). 

Off the ball, he works just as hard, he ranked in the top 10 of all defensive and central midfielders in the league for ‘true’ tackles and ‘true interceptions’ (the number of times a player makes these actions per every 1,000 touches that an opponent makes), a metric that adjusts for possession. 

The 21-year-old even ranks in the top 10 for aerial duel win rate, a surprise considering he is only 5 ’10.  

The Verdict

Caicedo would be the perfect Fabinho replacement, capable of anchoring Jurgen Klopp’s midfield for the foreseeable future.

Already adept at high-intensity counter-pressing, he would fit into the Reds system seamlessly, meaning that he is a lot less of a project signing than Lavia would be. 

Signing Caicedo would be a game-changer, and put Liverpool in contention for major honours again, rather than a battle for a top four place.