Nico Schlotterbeck must be Liverpool’s top transfer target after what he did for Germany last night

It’s judging Schlotterbeck on one aspect of his game – but he does sound awfully similar to Virgil van Dijk.

German media, indeed, were quite keen to highlight the Borussia Dortmund centre-back’s marvellous passing range and ‘precise’ diagonals.

• BILD: “Defensively, he was always on the ball. His shot from around 23 meters whizzed two meters over the crossbar. He had to be briefly treated when Reid found him with a bare foot (28′). He was strong in the build-up play with precise diagonal balls.”
• SZ: “His left foot was missed during his injury absence, not only at Dortmund but also by the national team. Schlotterbeck can play the ball precisely from defense to attack, as he did against Northern Ireland. Perhaps for this reason, he was tackled even more vigorously by the Northern Irish than the others, provoking the first yellow card of the game when Jamie Reid put his studs on his shin. He took on every wrestling challenge in the Greco-Northern Irish style.”
• Sport.de: “Played many long balls to Adeyemi and repeatedly managed to expose gaps in the opposition’s defense with diagonal balls. He performed well in defense for long stretches. After the break, he occasionally seemed a bit light-handed during Northern Ireland’s pressing phase.”

Regardless of his most appealing trait, we know for a fact that the 25-year-old is on Liverpool’s radar.

The Merseysiders didn’t end up pushing for Schlotterbeck in the summer just gone – instead preferring to prioritise Marc Guehi.

The time is coming for Liverpool to sign Schlotterbeck

Just how long Liverpool can afford to put off signing the elite German international, however, remains to be seen.

Virgil van Dijk, of course, remains ever-imperious in the backline for Arne Slot’s men. We’re unlikely to see a spiral in performance levels much before he turns 36 (if even then!).

That said, we do expect the recruitment team will be planning for the statistical likelihood of a decline in the coming years.

Indeed, if reports were to be believed, Nico Schlotterbeck was under serious consideration at Anfield in the event his Dutch counterpart didn’t sign a contract extension.

And why not? The Bundesliga centre-back is exceptional on the ball, ranking in the 99th and 90th percentiles respectively for progressive passes and progressive carries (FBref).

You can watch Slot’s post-Chelsea press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: