Liverpool To Battle Merseyside Rivals In Chase Of U20 World Cup Winning Defender

Liverpool are set to battle bitter rivals Everton for one of England’s most promising defenders in Ezri Konsa according to the Sunday Mirror via the Liverpool Echo. For those not in the know, Konsa was part of the U20 England side that picked up the U-20 FIFA World Cup earlier this year, which featured a number of Everton and Liverpool youngsters.

Dominic Solanke, Sheyi Ojo and Ovie Ejaria represented the side in the World Cup and it was Solanke’s great performance that helped England reach the final. We did sign Solanke from Chelsea on a free and could be looking for another rising star, who plays for Charlton Athletic.

The 19-year-old plays as a centre-back and has already made nine appearances for the side this term. He played in 39 games for the club in the last campaign and also won their Young Player of the Year award. The report also claims that scouts from both clubs have been constantly visiting the Valley and have kept their eye on the youngster.

Ready for the big time but do we need Konsa?

The short answer to that would be, yes. We need defenders, especially central ones and the youngster does have a great future ahead of him. We did complete a deal to sign Joe Gomez a few years ago from the Valley and the Englishman has turned out to be a decent signing.

Gomez has regularly featured for our team this season after coming back from an injury-plagued season last time around, but he does look to be getting better with each game under his belt.

Konsa, for his part, might slot into the squad as we look for other options ahead of a disappointing summer with regards to signing Virgil van Dijk. The Dutch defender is still not playing regularly for the Saints and was on the bench for their 1-0 loss against Manchester United.

While we might return with a bid for Van Dijk in the winter window, a move for Konsa should not be ruled out. He could turn out to be the next Gomez or even better but given his exploits for the U20 national side, he would not come on the cheap.

We will have a battle on our hands to sign the 19-year-old but this could be money well spent given our current problems with the central defence.