Liverpool interested in signing 19-year-old Newcastle midfield target

Liverpool linked with a move for Lille’s Carlos Baleba

The long saga surrounding Liverpool FC linked with numerous midfielders could drag on for longer as we have another player on our radar. Lille’s Carlos Baleba sees himself on the Reds’ radar.

That’s according to the Mail, who also claim that Brighton are in discussions over a move for the midfielder. The 19-year-old Cameroonian is primarily a defensive midfielder capable of playing central midfield roles as well. His contract with Lille runs until 2026 (Transfermarkt).

AC Milan, Juventus, Monaco and Newcastle United have all shown interest in Baleba at different times. Brighton have also offered a £15m fee to Lille exclusive of add-ons. The player only made his first-team debut for the French club after coming up from their B-Team. While the player may surely boast loads of talent, questions arise on whether or not he is the kind of player that Liverpool need.

As evident in our first league game against Chelsea, we surely need reinforcements in midfield. It almost felt like we had no cover defensively in the midfield and all the burden fell on the backline who were quite effective in handling the pressure from Mauricio Pochettino’s attackers.

Do Liverpool need Baleba?

The departure of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson is very tough a void for the Reds to fill. Keeping this in mind, we need a player of similar stature, or beyond to replace those two players. While young players are great as squad options, we already have Stefan Bajcetic to play those kind of roles. Having these youngsters vie for the same position in the squad would be a tad bit harmful to their effective development.

That is why, having a player who is properly established, and capable of bringing instant impact is of utmost importance at this point in time. Youngsters like Stefan can learn from these kinds and then later, take over in full force once the time comes for them. While Baleba is a great talent and more in his own right, he is probably not the kind of player Liverpool should look to sign with only half a month left for the transfer window to conclude.

Liverpool linked with a move for Lille's Carlos Baleba. — Liverpool linked with a move for Lille’s Carlos Baleba.

Going by his WhoScored description, Baleba seems like a work-in-progress player. We need players who jump right into the lineup and make that #6 spot their own for the next two or three years.

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There are little to no doubts that Moises Caicedo or Romeo Lavia would have given Jurgen Klopp more options. However, instead of going all out on these players, spending wisely on much more established players would also allow our own talents like Stefan, and Tyler Morton among others to grow into their roles and then, become regular starters.