Liverpool 'offered' surprise Sokratis Papastathopoulos transfer

14 January 2021 15:15

Liverpool have been offered the chance to sign Arsenal centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos as emergency cover during their defensive injury crisis.

Jurgen Klopp's side have lost both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez to knee injuries which could be season-ending, and with Joel Matip battling his own injury problems, Liverpool have been forced to turn to academy talents like Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips to join midfielder Fabinho at the back.

Liverpool are yet to decide whether to pull the trigger on a new centre-back or not, but speaking on the Here We Go Podcast, Fabrizio Romano revealed that Sokratis could be an option for the defending champions.

“He was offered to Liverpool too, you know that? Liverpool were looking for an opportunity and he was offered to Liverpool, but at the moment he’s not an option,” Romano explained.

"He could be an opportunity, he was an opportunity because he was offered, but at the moment Liverpool have not decided whether they’re signing a centre-back or not, they’re still in the middle of the situation, so nothing has been decided.”

It should be noted that it's not abundantly clear whether the offer of the 32-year-old Greek international, with whom Klopp worked at Borussia Dortmund, was a recent one or one which arrived earlier in the season.

Klopp & Sokratis worked together in Germany | PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

It seems like there definitely was an offer, but how much consideration Liverpool actually gave that is up for debate.

Klopp has publicly insisted that signing a new centre-back is probably not on the cards, and it's hard to see Liverpool going against that to sign a 32-year-old who hasn't played a second of first-team football since his two-minute cameo in the FA Cup final against Chelsea last August.

If Liverpool do choose to sign a new defender, there are few options as easy as landing Sokratis, but it's hard to see why the Reds would go for this one.



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Source: 90min