Liverpool may have signed Steven Caulker on loan until the end of the season, but he’s reportedly not the only defender that the Reds have made a move for this January with highly rated Schalke 04 center-back Joel Matip rumoured to have agreed to a summer switch to Merseyside.
The Anfield outfit have been linked with a number of defenders since Jurgen Klopp took over in October with the German looking to whip their porous back-line in to shape — something that the Cameroonian international could play a massive part in achieving. Besides that, the price is right; although no details of the deal have emerged at this early stage, Matip, who is in the final year of his deal, is set to move on a free transfer after failing to agree to a contract extension with the Gelsenkirchen club.
While Borussia Dortmund hard-man Neven Subotic has been heavily linked with a reunion with his former boss, a move away from the Westfalenstadion doesn’t look to be in his future with boss Thomas Tuchel confirming earlier in the week that the Serbian remains an important part of his plans.
At this point, that may be neither here nor there, but if the news that Matip will be moving to Merseyside is true, this could end up being a major coup for both Liverpool and Klopp. With Kolo Toure almost certain to leave this summer, Dejan Lovren still looking a bit shaky and Martin Skrtel not getting any younger, bringing in a strong, powerful defender that can play the kind of football the German wants is exactly what we need. He might not be arriving until the summer, but that’ll be one box checked already for our off season shopping list. Nothing like starting early, right?
