While it is foolish to purchase someone purely on their showing at the World Cup, football’s biggest international tournament inevitably offers an opportunity for players to display their skills to a wider audience. Liverpool have been linked with a midfielder who has been starring for one of the less fancied nations in Qatar.
Morocco were not expected to top their group, as it contained Belgium and Croatia, yet that is exactly what they did. It earned them a Round of 16 tie with Spain, which they won 3-0 on penalties to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
A big part of their success has been thanks to defensive midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg recently revealed he had “been told that many clubs from the Premier League observing Amrabat, especially Liverpool (next to Bellingham & Caicedo).”
READ MORE: Liverpool have obvious transfer they need to complete in 2024
READ MORE: Liverpool complain to UEFA and Real Madrid over CL ticket allocation
With the Reds in need of a midfield overhaul, it’s inevitable they are being connected with numerous players for the position. Leaving aside whether they will move for Amrabat or not, is he the type of midfielder they need?
The 26-year-old certainly has things in his favour, and not just that he would start to address the lack of peak age players in the centre of the Liverpool team. Amrabat also shares two key skills with a current member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
The graph in the above tweet below central midfielders from Europe’s top five leagues who have displayed two important traits in 2022/23: being secure in possession while also offering progressive passing. Among the eight who are specified by name are Amrabat and Thiago Alcantara. They could easily have met at the World Cup on Tuesday, but Spain manager Luis Enrique mystifyingly excluded the Liverpool man from his squad.
Nonetheless, they are placed close together on the chart. Where Thiago completes more progressive passes per 90 minutes, Amrabat has the edge for pass accuracy. It’s not like his figures for being incisive are bad either. He is currently ranked sixth in Serie A for progressive passes this season, and fourth for successful passes into the final third ( per FBRef ). Among players with more than 90 minutes under their belts in 2022/23, Amrabat is top for both metrics on a pro-rata basis.
This will be thanks to his excellent distribution over distance, which puts him in the top two per cent of midfielders in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain for long passes completed over the last year. He almost gave a great example of this ability early in extra-time on Tuesday, but Walid Cheddira was just offside.
With Alcantara being out of contract at the end of next season, by which time he will be 33-years-old, Liverpool will likely need a replacement before we know it. The fact the Moroccan’s current deal with Fiorentina also expires in 2024 makes it easy to see how the stars could align.
As the deepest lying midfielder in his national side’s 4-3-3 formation, Amrabat could also provide cover or competition for Fabinho. It was the off-ball side of his game which was inevitably far more on display in the game against Spain.
The Moroccan was frequently in the right place at the right time to snuff out any danger. He made a tremendous goal-preventing block in the first half, and one which appeared even more important in the final two minutes of normal time. An offside flag ensured the efforts would not have counted, but Amrabat’s defensive efforts were highlighted in the analysis on ITV in the UK, so important had he been.
While their possession was inevitably limited in their clash with Spain – they averaged 23 per cent – the Fiorentina man did his best to help Morocco retain it whenever possible. He was always offering a passing option to defenders when they were looking to play out and suffered the joint-most fouls of any player on his team, all from protecting the ball.
With Liverpool having started their mid-season training camp in Dubai, perhaps everyone was too busy to watch Morocco against Spain. Had they tuned in, they’d have seen a midfielder who performs well either in or out of possession, with excellent reading of the game. Amrabat could be exactly what Liverpool need.
READ NEXT
