Why Missing Out On This £12 million Rated Star Will Affect Liverpool Next Term

It is true that Liverpool have already signed Kolo Toure from Manchester City as replacement of Carragher in the centre back, but one can ask any supporter of the club as to which centre back they really want to see in the team in the near future. The answer should unanimously be Kyriakos Papadopoulos of Schalke who has been linked with the Reds on numerous occasions this season.

But so far as things stand now, Papadopoulos will prefer to stay in Germany for the next season and Liverpool will have to bite the dust!

The fans cannot be blamed either for wanting Papadopoulos in the club for he is what symbolises the centre back position. He is aggressive, has immense physical capability and is fearless when it comes to tackles and headers – a perfect combo for a Premier league defender. He could have been an ideal replacement for the club legend Carra, with his whooping 89% pass completion rate this season and his record of scoring a fair number of goals.

He would also have brought a fair share of experience for he has already notched up 150 senior appearances, club and country combined which is commendable for a 21 year old. His tender age also leaves ample scope for him to improve and the fans would have relished this combination of youth and experience.

The defender is also extremely quick, which will certainly help the Reds to think about bringing back their high defensive line strategy. He was averaging 3.7 tackles and six interceptions per game before his injury, which would have been good enough to rank him in the top dozen players in the entire league in both statistics over the course of the season.

The prospect of Daniel Agger and Papadopoulos starting for the Merseyside club, with Toure as a back-up was already salivating for the fans and thus they have taken immense interest in the future of the Greece international.

But then as we all know, what man proposes, God disposes! It is highly unlikely that the defender will join the English Premier League outfit anytime soon and he has also expressed his desire to stay with his current club. Schalke are in contention of playing the Champions League next season and with Liverpool lacking the kind of money to force the transfer through and no European football, it is not the biggest surprise in the world as to why Papadopoulos has chosen to remain with his current club.

The youngster’s agent has also insisted that Papadopoulos is not looking to move.

“I can tell you we have no interest in a transfer away from Schalke at this point in time,” Paul Koutsoliakos told Bild, insisting he is just concentrating on returning to full fitness after a knee operation in March.

“Kyriakos is happy being at this club,” he said.

“Kyriakos is fully focused on being fit when Schalke start pre-season training in the next few months. He looks likely to be ready for it.”

A bit harsh on the fans for sure, but then who said reality was fair?