When the dust settles on another busy summer transfer window for Liverpool, manager Brendan Rodgers may regret not pursuing the club’s reported interest in French defensive midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia.

According to Simon Jones of MailOnline, the Reds were scouting Kondogbia extensively towards the end of the 2014/15 season, when he played for AS Monaco:

The France international was one of the most coveted players in Europe prior to signing for the wealthy French club from Sevilla in 2013.

Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus and Paris St Germain were all keen.

He had an initial dip in form after his move but has since kicked on again and has impressed Liverpool scouts in Europe and the French league this season.

At the time, Jones painted Kondogbia as the type of under-the-radar, high-potential talent that Liverpool have purposefully targeted under Rodgers—with the likes of Emre Can, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho as evidence of this approach.

However, the 22-year-old eventually signed for a resurgent Inter Milan in a deal worth up to £25 million, according to Ian McCourt of the Guardian.

Jones suggested that “Liverpool’s budget and attraction will hinge on qualification for the Champions League.”

But with Inter also missing out on qualification for Europe’s elite competition after an eighth-place finish in the 2014/15 Serie A and the Reds spending big this summer on the likes of Roberto Firmino (£29 million) and Christian Benteke (£32.5 million), it seems that a move for Kondogbia would have been feasible.

Missing out on him could prove to be a costly mistake and a considerable regret for Rodgers this season.

 

Liverpool’s Need for a Defensive Midfielder

“I would have liked to have seen them sign a defensive midfield player, with Steven Gerrard having moved on,” former Reds defender Jamie Carragher professed in an August column for Sky Sports.

“Emre Can can maybe step in there and you still have Lucas Leiva, but it looks like a position that Liverpool need to fill, and it is one that I am slightly surprised they haven’t given their defensive record over the last few years.”

Though overall the 37-year-old is “impressed” with Liverpool’s business this summer, his notion that his former club needed to sign a defensive midfielder is a pertinent one.

The paramount importance of a defensive midfielder in the Premier League is becoming more and more significant as styles of play develop. Though the English top flight is renowned for its fast-paced attacking game, for a side to breach the dome of top-six superiority, it must become smarter and counter this threat.

Deploying a sitting, destroyer-type defensive midfielder has boosted the fortunes of Chelsea and Arsenal in the race for the top four, too. Both Nemanja Matic and Francis Coquelin are exemplary within their field.

In 36 league games with Matic in 2014/15, Chelsea lost just twice (6 percent), while their capitulation without him against Newcastle United saw them lose one of their two games without him.

In 22 league games with Coquelin last season, Arsenal lost just three times (14 percent), losing four games out of 16 without him (25 percent). Their win ratio with the Frenchman at the base of their midfield was boosted considerably, too. With Coquelin, the Gunners won 73 percent of their league games. Without him, they won just 38 percent.

Employing a specialist defensive midfielder of true quality is of fundamental tactical importance in the Premier League, but with Lucas Leiva representing Rodgers’ only option on this front, Liverpool will struggle at times this season.

 

Lucas Leiva

Brazilian midfielder Lucas looked set to leave Liverpool this summer, with James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo quoting Besiktas board member Erol Kaynar as declaring that “A loan deal [for Lucas] is likely, it could go ahead within the next two days.”

Lucas was set to join up with the Turkish giants on a season-long loan before his performance in Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal seemingly changed Rodgers’ stance on the 28-year-old’s future.

Pearce provided an update on Lucas’ future after the Emirates Stadium stalemate, suggesting that the club had “shelved plans to off-load” the former Gremio midfielder, as corroborated by Rodgers in conversation with Sky Sports during his post-match briefing.

“Lucas is our best defensive midfield player,” he said. “There are games where I play three midfield players but not always with a defensive specific one, but when we do need that, he is the best one we have.

“He came in tonight and did a great job and is very much part of what we want to do.”

Lucas is one of the club’s longest-serving current players behind centre-back Martin Skrtel, and his introduction into Rodgers’ first team in 2014/15 prompted an upturn in form, but his two appearances this season so far have provided a succinct evaluation of his quality.

A disciplined, aggressive option at the midfield base, Lucas is a means to an end for Liverpool—the sole defensive-minded body that Rodgers can rely on in big-game encounters such as away to Arsenal—but in the manager’s assertion that “he is the best one we have,” there is an element of complacency.

Against both Arsenal and West Ham United this season, Lucas has proven his deficiency in this vital role, with persistent injury issues leaving him physically depleted and unable to intervene with consistency as opponents build dangerous attacks in midfield and break on the counter.

Lucas is the best defensive midfielder that Liverpool have, but this is largely due to the fact that Lucas is the only defensive midfielder that Liverpool have.

This summer, they needed an upgrade.

 

Geoffrey Kondogbia

“What happens if you can’t sign the tall, athletic, 22-year-old France midfielder that almost every major Champions League club has looked into signing from Juventus this summer?” Duncan Castles wrote for Goal.com in June, comparing Kondogbia with international team-mate Paul Pogba.

“You turn your attention to the tall, athletic, 22-year-old France midfielder who appears certain to move away from AS Monaco this summer.”

Suggesting that Pogba and Kondogbia are on the same level may be a stretch, but with the former as the toast of European football—reportedly commanding a ridiculous fee of £105 million, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t the Express)—Kondogbia was the more realistic option for European clubs this summer.

While Pogba is an well-rounded, attack-minded central midfielder, Kondogbia is a different specimen.

A well-built, 6’2″ defensive midfielder, Kondogbia is suited to a holding midfield role, shielding the back four and breaking up play—in this sense, much like Lucas.

But unlike Lucas, Kondogbia also offers a progressive, dynamic option in building from the midfield. Last season, for example, he averaged 1.8 successful dribbles per 90 minutes in Ligue 1, more than all but five central midfielders to make 10 or more appearances in the French top flight—those being Oscar Trejo (2), Marco Verratti (2.3), Javier Pastore (2.5), Morgan Sanson (2.6) and Giannelli Imbula (3).

For Roberto Mancini at Inter, Kondogbia has so far operated alongside Gary Medel and Fredy Guarin in a three-man midfield base, with the trio interchanging roles in a fluid system.

Medel and Kondogbia both offer imperious defensive quality, which has seen Inter concede just one goal in their first two games in Serie A this season.

Interestingly, Lucas has long been linked with a move to Inter, as suggested by Tuttosport (h/t talkSPORT) at the end of June, but the youth, dynamism and vitality of Kondogbia, along with his defensive quality, make the Frenchman a much better option for Mancini.

But could Liverpool have snatched Kondogbia from under Inter’s noses this summer? Castles believes so.

“Kondogbia, it is said, is ‘a huge Liverpool fan’; fanatical enough that an offer from Anfield might even sway his decision,” he continued.

“Whether this Liverpool administration has the sense to find out is another matter entirely.”

With Rodgers seemingly lacking the sense to address his side’s lack of quality in the defensive sector this summer, allowing Inter to sign a top-level young talent like Kondogbia, the Liverpool manager has left his side lacking once again.

Failing to recognise this and ignoring the availability of Inter’s new No. 7 could become a major regret for Rodgers this season.

 

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