Jurgen Klopp has seemingly decided to trim his Liverpool squad before next season kicks off in August, recently selling the Australian Brad Smith to Bournemouth for £6 million, leaving Alberto Moreno as the only natural left-back in a team.
The German manager also allowed Jon Flanagan to join Burnley on a season-long loan, and so it appears obvious he will need to bring a new face to compete with the Spaniard who was inconsistent last year and certainly appears a weak-link for the Reds.
Here are five possible contenders to be Liverpool’s new left-back.
3Jetro Willems – PSV Eindhoven
Willems has been the best left-back in Holland for years, and has already won two Eredivisie titles and a Dutch Cup with PSV, despite being just 22 years of age. He has also played 20 times for his national side, and is quite experienced, having collected over 160 appearances for PSV since 2011/12 season.
Willems did miss half of last year due to a knee injury but managed to record two goals and four assists in 15 league matches.
Aaron Cresswell – West Ham United
The Liverpool-born player has had two solid seasons in a West Ham shirt following his arrival from Ipswich Town in 2014, recording two goals and four assists in each of them. He started his youth career at Melwood, but never got a chance to prove himself in his hometown, so he left for Tranmere Rovers in 2005.
Cresswell is a reliable left-back option. Unlike Moreno, he’s unspectacular and doesn’t make too many mistakes. His steadiness is comparable with Jonas Hector’s, also one of the Klopp’s top targets for the position.
Slaven Bilic is reluctant to let him go, but a call from Cresswell’s boyhood club could be too difficult to turn down for the player.
