According to reports from Spain, Liverpool could be set to win the transfer race for a LaLiga centre-back.
It had been rumoured earlier this autumn that the Reds were closely monitoring Sevilla’s Loic Bade as a potential long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk, who now has just over seven months remaining on his current contract at Anfield.
The 24-year-old reportedly has a release clause of €60m (£50.1m) at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, although it seems as if the Premier League leaders could sign him for considerably less than that figure.
Liverpool set to win Bade transfer race
On Sunday, Spanish outlet Todo Fichajes reported that Sevilla ‘have practically closed’ the sale of the Frenchman, who’s apparently bound for Liverpool in January ‘if nothing goes wrong’ in the meantime.
The LaLiga outfit are eager for an injection of cash flow amid an uneasy financial situation, and selling Bade would greatly help to address that need.
While several Premier League clubs are understood to have taken an interest in the defender, the Anfield giants ‘prevailed in the negotiations’ and have reportedly agreed a deal in the region of €25m (£20.9m) for the player.
Do Liverpool actually need Bade?
Until such time that these reports are corroborated by a reliable source closer to Merseyside, we’d be inclined to take them with a pinch of salt for now, but what could Bade bring to Liverpool if it turns out that the Reds are set to clinch his signature in January?
As per FBref, he doesn’t really stand out among fellow centre-backs in Europe’s five main leagues among a range of key performance metrics, although he is among the top 2% of positional peers in that subcategory over the past year for tackles won (2.65) and successful take-ons (0.69) per 90 minutes.
The 24-year-old never actually played for Nottingham Forest during a brief loan spell at the City Ground two years ago, but he’s already had eight LaLiga starts for Sevilla this season, a tally which’d surely have been higher were it not for a couple of injury absences.
That latter point could be a cause for concern, with Bade having also been sidelined for a few matches last term, and it’s something that Liverpool should take into consideration before they invest in the defender.
Given that Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have formed an imperious centre-back partnership, and that we have Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez as backup, it doesn’t seem like an area of the squad where the Reds are in dire need of new signings.
Nonetheless, we’ll discover over the coming weeks whether there’s any substance to the reports from Spain as to a deal being close to completion for the Sevilla player.
