Liverpool’s Midfield Search: Alex Scott Target Amid Complications

Liverpool’s midfield search isn’t quite as dead as it looks.

As the final week of the transfer window begins, one trusted report claims the club do have a defensive midfielder in mind – even as the public message from Anfield points elsewhere.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have looked far too easy to slice through in the middle of the pitch, not just last season but again in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle. The calls have grown louder for Richard Hughes to deliver a top-level No.6 before the window shuts next Tuesday.

Yet James Pearce wrote in The Athletic that Liverpool’s hierarchy do not intend to bring in a midfielder in the coming days, with their attention trained instead on wide attacking options. That doesn’t mean the holding role has vanished from the agenda inside the recruitment department.

Alex Scott at the top of the list – with a big problem

According to Miguel Delaney in The Independent, Liverpool have identified a “top target” for the position. Multiple sources have indicated that player is Bournemouth’s Alex Scott.

There is, however, a major complication. Bournemouth are understood to want around £90m for the 23-year-old. Liverpool are not in a position to meet that valuation, and there is a growing sense that any serious move could be pushed back to next year.

Delay carries its own danger. Chelsea are considering a late-window offer, testing Bournemouth’s insistence that Scott will not be sold in the final days of the window. Lose the race now, and Liverpool may not get a second chance.

A perfect profile, at the wrong time

Scott to Anfield was flagged as “one to watch” by transfer reporter Alex Crook in early June. Nearly three months on, nothing has shifted.

He is not a classic destroyer in the mould of Fabinho or N’Golo Kanté. He doesn’t simply sit, screen and tackle. Instead, last season’s numbers, via Fotmob, underline a midfielder who wins the ball back aggressively and then drives his team forward, either with his passing range or by carrying the ball through the lines.

That blend is exactly what Liverpool lack right now. With Curtis Jones gone, the need for an English midfielder who can both disrupt and create has only sharpened.

Bournemouth, though, are standing firm. There is no indication they will soften their stance this late in the window, and Liverpool’s owners FSG may already have accepted that a late-August push would be a waste of time and energy while other deals are being chased.

Yet football windows have a habit of twisting in the final days. If even the slightest gap appears in Bournemouth’s resolve over Scott, Liverpool know they cannot afford to be slow.