Liverpool sent scouts to keep an eye on Sporting CP’s Goncalo Inacio
The Derby de Lisboa had in attendance scouts from Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid to watch Sporting CP’s 22-year-old central defender Goncalo Inacio.
The Portuguese international has long been on the Reds’ transfer radar, and the developments with Los Blancos and Manchester United is relatively new compared to Liverpool’s interest in securing the services of Inacio.
Doubts over the futures of our starting centre-backs in the second half of last season meant that the Reds saw themselves in the market looking for a player to fill in that role. The club’s interest in securing a centre-back’s services coincided with a tweak in the Reds’ style of play with Trent Alexander-Arnold playing an inverted full-back down the right-hand side.
To accommodate that in the long-term better than they have until now, the Reds could do with the services of a left-sided centre-back capable of providing strong defensive solidity. That is where Liverpool’s interest in Inacio makes perfect sense.
Inacio to the Reds?
However, the game that the Reds sent their scouts for did not particularly end well for either Inacio or his team. CMJournal mentioned prior to the derby that Liverpool and Real Madrid would have their scouts in attendance for Sporting’s clash against Benfica.
That might have had a psychological effect on Inacio, who saw himself sent off the field after two yellow card offences. Having to play a major part of the second half with ten men eventually proved to be tough, as Benfica overcame a goal deficit late in added time to take all three points in a 2-1 win.
However, this one performance does not define the player. He has been pretty solid for most of the season, and could provide Jurgen Klopp with tactical flexibility should he make the move to Liverpool.
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In the end, only time will tell whether or not the Reds decide to trigger the release clause of €60m. At some point or the other, the Reds will surely need to think of long-term replacements for the existing bunch. We have Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah as our current options as central defenders.
