Virgil Van Dijk Joel Matip Liverpool 2019Getty

‘Liverpool would be mad to sign another centre-half’ – Carragher not buying De Ligt talk

Liverpool would be “mad” to sign another centre-half, says Jamie Carragher, with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez proving that somebody such as Matthijs de Ligt is not needed at Anfield.

The Reds are among those to have been linked with a Dutch defender generating plenty of interest at Ajax.

It has been suggested that he could be the perfect partner for fellow countryman Virgil van Dijk on Merseyside.

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Any move for the 19-year-old would, however, not come cheap as he boasts suitors across Europe.

Carragher is not convinced that Liverpool need to spend big again at the heart of their defence, with Jurgen Klopp already boasting enough quality options alongside £75 million ($95m) man and reigning PFA Player of the Year Van Dijk.

“The form Matip’s been in, he’s been brilliant,” former Reds defender Carragher told The Anfield Wrap.

“At one stage three months ago I was thinking, ‘We need to buy a centre-back.’ 

“You couldn’t trust [Dejan] Lovren or Gomez fitness-wise and Matip was the fourth choice and you’re thinking, ‘Is he good enough?’ 

“But I think you’d be mad now to sign one. Maybe if Lovren went, I don’t know his contract situation. 

“He’s far too injury prone for me so if someone made a good offer and you could buy someone without breaking the bank [you should sell him], because you’ve got Gomez there who was outstanding at the start of the season, you give him one more chance as well. 

“Unfortunately for him [Lovren] he gets a lot of injuries and you can’t afford to have players in your squad who get injured all the time. 

“It’s just not good. In Matip and Gomez we’ve got two excellent partners for big Virg.”

Carragher is not the first to suggest that Lovren should be moved on by Liverpool.

Steve Nicol has also advised Klopp to offload the Croatia international, freeing up space for additions in other areas of a squad that came agonisingly close to landing the Premier League title this season and could yet finish the campaign with a Champions League crown.

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