Liverpool ignore idea of landing ‘next Joel Matip’ as free transfer agreed
Liverpool have opted against repeating the trick that saw them land Joel Matip, with Arne Slot set to ignore any desire to boost his squad until the January transfer window
by Jacob Leeks · The MirrorLiverpool have opted against making a move for Oumar Solet to replace Joel Matip, with the 24-year-old instead set to join Udinese.
Solet terminated his contract at Red Bull Salzbug in the summer and had previously been linked with a move to the Reds. Matip's exit at the end of last season made a defensive signing a possibility for new boss Arne Slot.
Matip himself moved to Anfield as a free agent back in 2016 after leaving Schalke. He brought an end to his time at the Reds in the summer after a series of injuries severely impacted his final few seasons.
Despite those injury issues, Matip played a key role in the highly successful Jurgen Klopp era, helping the Reds to win the Premier League, the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
They may well looked to have repeated the trick with Solet, who showed sparks of potential at Salzburg. The defender won two successive Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup doubles during his four years with the club.
But Liverpool have decided the ignore the chance of repeating the trick that made Matip a modern-day icon. Instead Solet is closing in on a move to Serie A side Udinese, with the two parties having reached an agreement.
Reports claim Udinese are working towards completing the final steps of the deal. He was spotted in the stands ahead of the Coppa Italia win over Salernitana last Wednesday.
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The decision to ignore Solet comes in the wake of a mixed week for their centre-backs. Jarrell Quansah scored an own-goal to hand West Ham the lead in last Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash, though Liverpool would go on to win 5-1.
Then on Saturday, Ibrahima Konate opened the scoring against Wolves before committing a major error which gifted the rock-bottom Midlanders an equalsier. And boss Slot was left far from happy with the Frenchman.
"The goal we conceded was definitely avoidable and it was unnecessary. It came at a bad time because we had total control over the game," Slot added when speaking to Match of the Day.
"By conceding this way, they came back into the game and the good thing for us, is we immediately scored to make it 2-1. With only one goal making the difference, it makes it a difficult game until the end.
"Feels good [to be top], you want to be up there but it doesn’t tell me that much at the moment. If you look at Wolves they are down in the table but they played much better than that today. After 19 games, it’ll tell me something but not after six."
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