Liverpool eye £30m Aston Villa target as Jamie Carragher identifies huge problem for Andoni Iraola
Liverpool and Aston Villa have been linked with a move for Fiorentina midfielder Cher Ndour.
Last summer, Liverpool spent more than £400million on the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitike but it didn’t do them much good as they finished sixth in the 2025-26 Premier League season.
That ultimately cost Arne Slot his job at Anfield, and his successor, Andoni Iraola, saw FSG splash around £230m on players such as Bradley Barcola and Jeremy Jacquet.
Throughout pre-season, however, it became clear that Liverpool looked disjointed in the middle of the park, despite having quality operators such as Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, and Dominik Szoboszlai.
And that hasn’t changed, leading to criticism from Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and Arsenal icon Thierry Henry. The Reds saw Trent Alexander-Arnold leave in 2026, while attack-minded full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez joined.
Although they recruited Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona, both Henry and Carragher feel something isn’t right with the Merseyside outfit.
Henry said earlier this week, “We can talk about the money and Jamie will go more into details than me because that is his team so I will leave him the floor. But for me the most important thing is I don’t think they dealt well with the right back and left back situation.”
Carragher chimed in, “I agree they had problems in the full back positions and they spent an awful lot of money but the squad right now is not balanced at all.”
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Furthermore, Carragher said last month that the midfield issue was a “huge problem” for Liverpool.
He said, “The problem Liverpool had last season was there was space everywhere in Liverpool’s midfield. That has not gone away at all.
“That’s only going to get bigger with the deployment of Szoboszlai in midfield – it looks like they’re going to play him (there), rather than as a No. 10, almost as a central midfield player alongside Gravenberch, and that is just pure box-to-box. I look at that midfield three and I worry about Liverpool.”
Liverpool eye rising star Cher Ndour
One man who potentially could provide a bit more balance is Fiorentina’s Ndour. The 21-year-old has been at Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain but failed to make the grade at either.
The 6ft 3in player signed for Fiorentina in February 2025 for just €5million on a deal until 2029 but now it seems he is worth a lot more than that.
The Italy international is said to be valued at €30-35m (£25.7m-30m) and now Caught Offside claim Liverpool, Villa and Juventus are keen on signing him.
The report states the two Premier League teams value Ndour’s athleticism in high-tempo systems, while Juventus see him as a tall, technically gifted talent well-suited to Serie A.
The right-footed box-to-box midfielder has played 59 times for Fiorentina, scoring eight goals in the process.
But at this rate, it seems they may have a job keeping hold of him beyond this season, particularly with that gettable price tag.
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