On their journey towards winning the Champions League in 2019, Liverpool faced FC Porto in the quarter-final stage.
The Reds won both legs and managed progress to the latter stages, but a certain opposition centre-back impressed throughout the tie.
Eder Militao - despite his team conceding six goals in 180 minutes against Liverpool - showed up as a talent who was likely to be too good to remain in Portugal.
Sure enough, Real Madrid had announced him as a new signing just one month earlier; the Brazilian had agreed to join the Spanish giants at the end of the campaign for around £45m.
Two years have passed since, but Militao is yet to truly convince Zinedine Zidane that he’s capable enough to be relied upon on a consistent basis.
He played the first leg against Liverpool recently and it is likely that he will start at Anfield on Wednesday, but that is due to squad injuries rather than form.
Still just 23-years-old, he’s started only five La Liga matches this season from a possible 30 and rumours are circulating regarding the impending arrival of David Alaba in the summer.
The Bayern Munich man has played as a left-back for most of his career but in recent times, he’s been deployed as a centre-back and that doesn’t bode particularly well for Militao’s chances of establishing himself at the Bernabeu in the near future.
Despite his lack of impact at Madrid, Militao still holds plenty of potential and he possesses naturally valuable qualities that Liverpool desire in a central defender.
Standing around 6-foot-1, the South American is quite a physical presence while also being quick across the ground, allowing him to cope one-on-one against most opponents, which is a vital Liverpool trait.
Moreover, he’s contested 68 aerial duels in La Liga since moving to Spain, winning 54 of them which leaves him with an impressive success rate of 79.4%, which - for perspective - isn’t far from the average of 81% posted by Virgil Van Dijk last season.
It remains to be seen whether Militao is actually available for a transfer but based on his time in the Spanish capital so far, combined with Zidane’s lacking trust in him and the financial issues ongoing at the club, his situation is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Liverpool have a very obvious centre-back void to fill this summer and ultimately, one of the realistic candidates for the role could be about to audition against the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane on Wednesday.
