With the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold all but sealed, Liverpool’s recruitment team have been hard at work actively finding possible replacements for the English fullback.
When Richard Hughes was first appointed, one of the main qualities that was described was his affinity for Italian football and the players within Serie A. This is evident by the signing of Federico Chiesa from Juventus for a cost-effective fee. While Chiesa has not seen much playing time due to a lack of fitness with zero pre-season from being frozen out of the Turin-based squad by Thiago Motta, it has been a slow build-up. The Italian, however, has performed brilliantly in his short cameos, with fans calling for him to finish the remainder of the season as a starter over the current options of Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz. All of which are struggling in front of goal the last few weeks.
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With reports coming from La Gazzetta dello Sport that following the dismissal of Chiesa’s former manager, Thiago Motta, Juve may be forced to sell a number of assets to finance the severance payments. Notably mentioned in recent weeks was 19-year-old Kenan Yildiz. The young Turkish prodigy is versatile enough to play both wings and centrally. Another option being discussed is Andrea Cambiaso.
Cambiaso was heavily linked to rival Manchester City in the January transfer window, with a move very close to happening. City had allocated a budget of £50million to acquire the services of the 25-year-old Italian and have yet to change their minds about pursuing him again in the Summer window.
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Enter Liverpool. Who now are in the market for that creative presence and progressive player in the fullback position due to the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Madrid as a free agent this Summer.
Could Richard Hughes return to the Italian market once again to steal away a bargain from a struggling Juventus side in need of funds to pay for the departure of Motta?
Liverpool are losing a progressive monster in Trent, and that needs to be replaced. The replacement should come both through siginings and system tweaks as trying to replace the player in a like-for-like scenario will not work. However, Cambiaso comes about as close as you could want from a progression standpoint.
To compare the two, we need to look at what Trent firstly provides in a high possession side who are dominant on the ball against most opponents:
- Progressive Carries per90 – 1.04
- Possession Adjusted Progressive Passes per90 – 28.6
- Passes into Final Third per90 – 12.39
- Progressive Passing Accuracy – 77%
- Progressive Actions per90 – 12.39
- Expected Assists per90 – 0.24
When we take a look at both Trent and Andrea side by side, you can see the massive similarities in their progressive game. Bearing in mind that Cambiaso has been doing this while in a very defensive and non-progressive Juventus side. A transition to a more progressive on-ball playstyle of Total Football would benefit him massively. The Arne Slot style.
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While the percentiles might be misleading to a degree as it doesn’t show the actual amounts of those actions per90, even when comparing them side by side there is massive similarities to be seen.
Juventus now need to recoup £25million in costs following the departure of Thiago Motta. With this bill coming due in the Summer months. Richard Hughes has the chance to flex the Italian football muscles and steal away another talent from Turin in an ”opportunisitc move” that has echoed Liverpools transfer policies under their current ownership.