Liverpool’s interest in Roger Ibanez is a case of the right player at the wrong time

Liverpool love the look of 22-year-old AS Roma defender Roger Ibanez, according to reports. The Reds are set to face Arsenal in a race to clinch the Brazilian rising star.

This comes from Calciomercato quoted by The Mail. They say Liverpool have been linked heavily in the past and that Arsenal have investigated to sign the youngster.

Paris Saint Germain, Leicester, Tottenham and Everton are also said to have stakes in Ibanez, valued at £ 35million.

Ibanez, 22, is from Brazil and was a Serie A regular in 2020/21 for Roma. And a native of South America, he has a lot of high-quality players to admire in his career.

Indeed, according to the official Roma website, Ibanzez “idol” the current star of Chelsea and Brazilian legend, Thiago Silva.

Unfortunately, from Liverpool’s perspective, he could be the right player at the wrong time.

Will Liverpool move for Ibanez?

Despite ongoing reports, it looks like Jurgen Klopp is keen to avoid plunging into the market in January.

ECHO reported that the Reds will not sign anyone next month. That could still change, but only if there is an injury or a sale.

The plan is therefore for the Liverpool manager to remain confident in the options that are still available to him.

It’s an important decision, considering injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. He leaves Liverpool with just Fabinho as a makeshift defender, with Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips to team him up.

The last two are very inexperienced. Williams was in the National Northern League last season, while Phillips was in Bundesliga 2.

Klopp has shown against Newcastle that he is ready to stay with both youngsters as the new year approaches.

It seemed, however, that Williams was his first choice. He started in the 2-1 win over Spurs and came off the bench in a 1-1 draw with West Brom.

Klopp shows his hand

Many expected Klopp to join the 19-year-old at St James’ Park. Then Klopp threw a huge curve ball against Newcastle.

He launched Phillips for the first time in over a month. He has shown he is ready for a continuous rotation between Williams and Phillips.

Liverpool want two out of the box options accustomed to playing with Fabinho – which makes a lot of sense.

Klopp apparently showed his hand in Liverpool’s last game in 2020. He wants to trust internal solutions and their performance in the coming weeks will be interesting.

Matip was only out for three weeks, after all. Klopp can effectively rotate between the two youngsters ahead of Matip’s inevitable return next month.

Josh is a sports reporter from the south who has previously reported on the Reds at home and outside of the press. His idol is Joel Matip while Madrid 19 to date is still unclear for him.