Liverpool Football Club: Replacing a Gini

Part 1

Very few people imagined Liverpool's title defence would play out quite the way it did. From a 7-2 defeat at Villa Park to a losing streak at Anfield that will go down in the record books. Then wedged in between those forgettable times, the season defining moments, two season ending injuries to the first choice central defenders; Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, which would soon be followed by yet another injury to Joel Matip which would see him miss the rest of the season as well.

Due to the injury crisis, at times Liverpool's back four consisted of two central midfielders. Fabinho, who had played most of the season as a central defender due to the injuries to VVD and Gomez, would then be joined by Jordan Henderson after the injury to Joel. Only for Henderson then to be struck down by a season ending injury.

Over the course of the 38 Premier League games, Jurgen started with a multitude of central midfield trio's. Some of which included;

These are just some examples of the midfields that Liverpool were forced to play with this season. Which at times seemed like it was just a carousel of players in and out of engine room, a carousel that showed no signs of stopping. There was always a constant though, and that constant was Georginio Wijnaldum. The Dutchman played 51 times in all competitions in 2020/2021 - tied for most appearances with Mo Salah.

For as long as this Premier League season has seemed for Liverpool fans, the on-going saga of "Will Gini sign a new contract, or won't he?" has been going on for just as long, maybe longer. With the confirmation that Wijnaldum will now be departing Liverpool at the end of his contract, it's time that Michael Edwards go to work on replacing him. So in this post, we'll be looking at who could replace the Dutch International. From actual targets to some potential wildcards.

The Passing Gini

Over the last 3 seasons, Georginio has posted +90% passing accuracy. With this, his final season being the best. Ending the Premier League campaign with 93.3 percent of his passes being directly to a teammate. That's the fourth highest percentage of accurate passes, of any midfielder in Europe's top 5 leagues. It's obvious that they will miss his ability to successfully complete a pass, so let's have look at who could make up for that.

Gini becomes the second most accurate passer within 'the big 5 leagues' when we add some parameters to the data. We're looking for players that can stay fit and be available for selection whenever the coach needs. So the players we're looking at have played a minimum of a full 90 minutes on 15 occasions, or surpassed 1350 minutes in total. At this stage, we're not overly bothered about age - as FSG buying Thiago last summer proves they're willing to go for an older player, should he fit the bill.

Completing the rest of the top five most accurate passers are;

1. Mohammed Elneny - 93.4 %
2. Gini Wijnaldum - 93.3 %
3. Idrissa Gana Gueye - 92.8%
4. Steven Nzonzi - 92.2 %
5. Marco Verratti - 91.9 %

A surprising bunch of talent make up that list, names that aren't mentioned as much as the likes of a Joshua Kimmich, Toni Kroos, Thiago Alcantara or Paul Pogba. This is likely to be because the role they play within their respective teams, goes under the radar. They're recyclers of possession, players who the rest of the team can count on to receive the ball and get it away again.

Wijnaldum wasn't used by his teammates as much as the others in the top 5 (just over the average), that's because of a certain Thiago who played next to him, and received the 11th most passes within our data range.

Now onto how progressive our original 5 are with the ball, and we also see some new faces in the group. The former Magpie, is the least progressive. Which does pass the eye test if you've seen him play under Jurgen Klopp.

The three extra players I've highlighted are Former Liverpool man, Luis Alberto, German destroyer, Joshua Kimmich, and the youngest on our list so far, 23 year old, Manuel Locatelli.

I've added these 3, as Kimmich is a former target, Locatelli is a possible target, and Alberto, for me, is a wild card target.

Luis Alberto, is a strange one. He showed a few glimpses of what he could do under Brendan Rodgers, who once said "He's another Coutinho type". Just a couple of months after the arrival of Mr. Klopp, Luis had packed his bags and left for Lazio in a deal worth ￡4,300,000 (This deal included a 30% sell on clause, thank you Michael Edwards). Since leaving he's gone on to be one of the best Midfielders in Serie A and even Europe. His value has rocketed to ￡45,000,000 (according to Transfermarkt.com). Although he's very clearly not in the Gini mould, I think his forward thinking style of play could massively assist Liverpool. To replace the Gini though, he will have to score well on accuracy, which we will look at a little later.

Joshua Kimmich, a former target for Klopp, is a utility man. Something that Liverpool need, as an injury to Trent Alexander-Arnold results in Jordan Henderson or James Milner dropping into his spot. So a CM/RB who's equally adept at playing both positions would be music to any Managers ears. Although he often gets positioned as a defensive midfielder, he does have a license to roam which shows in his progressive passes per 90, and also passes into the final 1/3rd. A bit of a double threat, Joshua is just as good going forward, creatively, as he is stopping the opposition in their tracks.

Manuel Locatelli, is a strong choice for FSG. The young Italian fits their typical check list. Under 25, tick. If his market value of ￡30,000,000 is a price that Sassuolo would sell him for, it certainly won't break the bank and under the tutelage of the fantastic coaches at Liverpool would surely flourish into a player that could give them a great few years and then double or triple in price. Again, not a role that Wijnaldum would typically play for the red men, but we'll look at his passing accuracy, aswell as the other two, right now.

So, already it looks like we can rule out Luis Alberto. Not only does he have the lowest pass accuracy of our 3, but it's also well below the average. Joshua and Manuel have a near exact amount of passes during 90 mins, but Manuel completes more of these, and is only a couple of percent less accurate than the Gini. This would only improve at a possession heavy team like Liverpool. Manuel is currently the most affordable option, the most likely to want to come to Liverpool and the best of what we're looking for so far.

In part two of this series, we'll be looking at other parts of Georginio Wijnaldum's game and if Manuel Locatelli can replace him in those area's too, or if we have to carry on our search.

Thanks for reading,

Jay.