The Merseyside club Liverpool recently faced a shocking 2-0 defeat against the newly promoted Premier League side Burnley and that raised many questions regarding the betterment of the club. There is no doubt their German manager Jürgen Klopp is working his skin out to bring the much-needed stability, but a defeat against the team like Burnley would never help his cause.
The absence of the players like Emre Can and Sadio Mane was clear, but even after signing seven new players, Liverpool are still struggling to find a stable footing on to the pitch. Soon after the players like Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano left the Anfield, no one has been able to fill those void till date. Jordan Henderson was supposed to surpass the task, but his personal affairs with the injuries never allowed him to do that.
So after the recent defeat, we may expect that Liverpool might go out in the market to sign at least a top class left back and also a central/defensive midfielder. According to the recent reports, Liverpool are currently looking out to sign AS Roma’s midfielder Leandro Paredes, who is rated at £18m, and to make the deal more interesting, Roma too are willing to let the player go. There are also claims that the teams like AC Milan and Leicester City are also in the chase, but we are pretty sure that an offer from the team like Liverpool might not be an easy task to refuse.
Who is Leandro Paredes?
The 22-year-old Argentine defensive midfielder, Leandro, started his footballing career with the Argentine club Boca Juniors. In 2010, he made his debut for the senior side. In 2014, the youngster was sent out on loan to the Italian side Chievo Verona and in the following season, 2014-15, he signed for the fellow Serie A outfit AS Roma on a temporary deal, with an option to buy after the loan period.
In September 2014, he made his debut for the Roman Empire and five months later, he scored his first goal for the club. Soon after the season ended, he was signed permanently for a reported fee of around €6.067 million.
Just one month later, he was sent to the fellow Serie A side Empoli on a season-long loan, and this is where he cemented his place in the first team. He made 33 appearances for the side in the previous campaign and scored two goals and further created 41 chances for the side. The defensive midfielder did receive 11 bookings last time out, but also won 52% of his average duels.
Style of Play:
Parades, who can be deployed anywhere in the central midfield is especially known for his ability to drive the team forward, something like what Pirlo did at Juventus, or Xabi Alonso did at Liverpool. Besides that, his passing ability is simply brilliant and being a defensive midfielder, his competency of winning the ball back is worth mentioning.
A perfect shield for Liverpool’s soft defence, who can play some decisive passes up front is what Paredes is. The 22-year-old Argentine is set to play a top brand of football and could ease the pressure off the shoulders of defenders at times. As a defensive midfielder, Liverpool does not really have many concrete options besides Emre Can.
No wonder Can is a great prospect, but the German still needs a backup to cover for his injuries. Paredes averaged 84% of passing accuracy last season and averaged at least 54 passes per game, and with this, we can clearly say that the player could really wrap some impressive displays at the Anfield.
Besides all of it, he is known for his well-disciplined presence on the field. You won’t see him doing a Marouane Fellaini or Diego Costa on the pitch, but his timing of the tackles is just perfect. As stated earlier, the 22-year-old loves to dictate the game and that allows him to combine well with his teammates. But when there are pros, there are cons. The 22-year-old might struggle to cope with the pressure of the Premier League at times and could also encounter a badland while competing against the players like Hazard, Mkhitaryan, and Ozil, who are well capable of surpassing him through their silky smooth ball skills.
Leandro is a hard working individual, but still is an uncut diamond who needs to be refined and we personally believe that working with Klopp might work wonders for the rising star.
