Liverpool have yet to find a new contract under Slot. Moreover, they have let the opportunity to own a quality star pass by.
Before Mats Wieffer arrived at Brighton , he became the target of a series of big teams after his impressive performance in Feyenoord’s shirt.
At the beginning of the summer transfer window, there were many links between Liverpool and the Dutch central midfielder as they believed that new coach Arne Slot was very keen to bring his former student to Anfield.
Brighton rookie.
Slot himself later admitted that he had never had a conversation with Wieffer to convince him to follow him, although it was reported that Liverpool had made a last-minute offer. Therefore, The Kop fans were quite regretful because the club missed out on a star who both understood Slot’s football philosophy and demonstrated his comprehensiveness.
In the 2023/24 season, he is the only player in Europe’s top seven leagues to score 30 or more points in the following categories: shots (37), chances created (38), successful dribbles (34), aerial duels won (93), tackles (83), interceptions (50), clearances (35), touches in the opposition penalty area (68) and passes into the opposition penalty area (63).
Wieffer does pretty much everything a midfielder needs to do, so whether he plays as a number 6 or a number 8, the Dutchman can do it all.
“I can play box to box as well, but I like to play as a number six, to be involved in the build-up, to get more balls forward,” the Brighton new boy shared.
“I also like to play one touch and of course, if you play as a number six, you have to win a lot of duels. Those are my qualities and sometimes I also score goals, maybe from set pieces.”
The Dutchman is well versed in Slot’s tactics.
The above mentioned excellent qualities will certainly bring quality additions to Liverpool’s midfield, because they are really lacking a quality holding midfielder.
Last season, they relied on the signing of Wataru Endo to maintain stability in this area, but with the Japanese international now 31, things will become increasingly difficult.
In fact, Liverpool will need a player with good cleaning and covering ability like Wieffer to create the premise for the duo Alexis Mac-Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to unleash their creativity.
Therefore, missing out on the former Feyenoord star could cost Liverpool a large sum to find another player with similar characteristics. However, that contract still cannot be compared to Mats Wieffer in terms of understanding Slot and the football philosophy he built.
