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Liverpool and Arsenal set to battle for 22-year-old prodigy dubbed ‘next Mats Hummels’

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By Thomas Hein

Caglar Soyuncu

Liverpool will be looking to add more defensive players to the side as they look to sign Caglar Soyuncu from Freiburg.

Turkish Football (h/t The Daily Star) claim that the Reds have inquired about the availability of the 22-year-old central defender and had even scouted the player during the match between Turkey and Russia.

The ‘next Mats Hummels‘ was one of the better players for the Bundesliga side as he helped them avoid relegation and has played 15 games for the Turkish national side since making his debut in 2016.

It isn’t just Liverpool who are trying to sign the defender with Arsenal also looking to bring Soyuncu to the Emirates. The Gunners are prepared to pay up to £35million, according to a report by the Telegraph.

Defensive inputs required but is Soyuncu the right player?

Last season, we did struggle during the latter part of the season when the likes of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip picked up injuries. It really reduced our options at the back.

While we have brought in Fabinho for the midfield and Naby Keita too, we probably need another central defender just to ensure we have quality cover all around.

Ragnar Klavan is not the right answer given his lack of pace and also his age while Matip has been hit with multiple injuries since making his move from Schalke.

Our first-choice pairing should be Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dijk unless we sign a world-class defender and Soyuncu might end up going to the bench.

With Arsenal willing to spend £35million on the player, we might have to spend more than that to land the player. It might be a little too much for a bench player but given the current market scenario, it would not be a surprise if a club does spend big to bring the 22-year-old in.