The opening weeks of the 2022-23 Premier League season have not been kind to hopeful title chasers Liverpool after the Reds have already dropped points in four of their six league fixtures (2-3-1) while already trailing table-topping Arsenal by six points.
Club boss Jürgen Klopp has already been hit hard by injuries to the senior squad in the soft underbelly that is the heart of the Liverpool midfield, with Jordan Henderson, Naby Keïta, Curtis Jones, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all on the treatment table at the time of writing.
Despite securing a loan move for Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo on deadline day, Klopp was forced to finally admit to the media that the Reds have failed to smartly secure long-term central targets despite the club conducting business in other areas dating back to January.
As such, Liverpool is set to pivot in the transfer war room and has now been linked with RB Leipzig and Austrian international midfielder Konrad Laimer per reports sourced by transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.
Laimer, 25, has been a key figure in Saxony for the Bundesliga upstart since his arrival from partner club RB Salzburg in the summer of 2017 but has just one year left on his deal at Red Bull Arena and former Leipzig tactician Julian Nagelsmann has already expressed interest in a reunion in Bavaria at Bayern Munich.
Liverpool reportedly was heavily interested in trying to secure the Salzburg native during the summer window but was unable to bring Leipzig to the table so late in the window, but could return this January and square off with Bayern - among other clubs - to try to negotiate terms with the Bundesliga outfit who are all but guaranteed to prefer a winter sale over a free exit in the summer.
Should the Reds miss out on Laimer, possible targets are already on the radar as well after recent reports suggest a keen interest in Brighton’s Ecuadorian international Moisés Caicedo.
The young midfielder could himself be a tough prize to snag, however, with the 20-year-old’s star rising rapidly at the Amex Community Stadium and Brighton under no financial constraints to sell him after parting ways with both Marc Cucurella, Neal Maupay, Yves Bissouma in the summer for a combined received fee of £90m while the club look set to offer him a contract extension despite three years remaining on his current deal to ward away any interest from bigger clubs.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, it may be too little too late to source a midfielder that meets Klopp’s standards during a winter market that will no doubt be disrupted by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, possibly throwing into jeopardy their ability to sustain a challenge both at home and abroad this season.
