Liverpool are facing the prospect of playing the whole of the rest of this season without key man Virgil van Dijk - but they missed out on signing a player who could be even better than the 29-year-old, according to one Dutch expert.
Netherlands prodigy Matthijs de Ligt, who signed for Juventus last summer after a stellar season at Ajax where he helped Erik Ten Hag's side to the Champions League semi-finals, is being backed to reach even higher heights than fellow countryman Van Dijk.
The Reds were linked with a big-money deal for the then-19-year-old defender throughout last summer, as were Manchester United and Barcelona, but he ultimately ended up signing for the Italian giants for £67.5 million.
The ECHO understands that Liverpool never made a move for De Ligt because Jurgen Klopp was happy with his centre-back options at the time, with Van Dijk vital and Joe Gomez and Joel Matip also both impressing.
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Dejan Lovren has since departed but he too was considered a reliable enough fourth choice and the Croatian was, at the time, happy to play that role.
There were also reports that Mino Raiola, the player's agent, was demanding wages of £250,000-per-week for the player, which is more than any Liverpool player earns, and something that the Reds would not have agreed to pay.
On the Behind Enemy Lines podcast on the Blood Red channel, Michael Statham from Football Oranje explained: "The Netherlands went a long time without having a top centre-back and now they have two with Van Dijk and De Ligt.
"And that changes the way that people view the Netherlands national team. Last year [before the Euros were moved] it was a race against time to get Memphis Depay fit and he would have been as it happens, and now it’s the same with Van Dijk.
"But centre-back is their strongest area. De Ligt is there and Stefan de Vrij is competing at a very high level in Italy. Losing Depay would have been worse for the Netherlands as he is their only high-quality striker, but it is obviously a massive miss.
"De Ligt, I think, is a one in a generation kind of player. He could ultimately be better than Van Dijk because he can do more than Van Dijk. Having watched Ajax for years, he is immense and could be the best defender in the world in time."
Liverpool are facing a dilemma themselves now, with Klopp's options at the back much different to what he was facing just over 12 months ago.
Fabinho has been handed a role at the centre of the backline on numerous occasions, with the Brazilian forced to step back from his usual number six berth to plug some gaps.
Speculation surrounding a move for another highly-rated young defender, Dayot Upamecano, of RB Leipzig, is also unlikely to go away, but Liverpool know that they must go with what they have between now and January at least.
