Defender Joel Matip could leave Liverpool next summer
In a shocking development, a report claims that Liverpool centre-back Joel Matip could be on his way out of the club at the end of the current season. The 31-year-old Cameroonian has a contract until 2024 (Transfermarkt) at the club, and it comes as a shock that he could see himself out at the end of the year.
Goal’s Neil Jones reports that the defender may end his seven-year tenure at Liverpool this summer. Matip is also among the players who are going through a blatantly visible drop-off in form this season. Although the whole team looks off the charts, Big Joel alone couldn’t stand blamed for these issues.
Matip joined the Reds as a free agent from Bundesliga side Schalke 04 in 2016 and apart from his frequency of injuries, he has been rock solid at the back whenever available and rarely puts in a wrong step. Moreover, there was a general notion that Joel was better than Virgil van Dijk for the Reds last season.
Could Matip leave Liverpool?
Liverpool have sufficient depth in the centre-back position with Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams as active options apart from Virgil in case Matip decides to head out.
Joel was the Reds’ first signing under Jurgen Klopp. Since then, the player has made 180 appearances for Liverpool across all competitions. This number would have certainly been much higher if Matip could have kept himself fit.
However, Liverpool have a lot of high ambitions for the future. Their pursuit of world-class midfielders including the likes of Jude Bellingham among others will not come for cheap and definitely need a lot of money. If that means parting ways with Matip, that is for sure an avenue the Reds could think of.
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At 31, there is only so much football a centre-back could offer and with world-class talent like Konate on the bench, the Reds could certainly think about going about it but keeping in mind that Matip has been an able servant of the club.
