Liverpool have been linked with £65 million player Diego Carlos, but who is the Brazilian and why do the club want to sign him?
The Express have reported that Liverpool want to bring the Brazilian to Anfield after he enjoyed a breakthrough year in La Liga.
Sevilla only signed the central defender last summer but could already make five times their money on the 27-year-old, who was playing in the Portuguese second tier just five years ago. There was also a loan spell thrown in to Porto B, before French side Nantes came along and offered Diego Carlos the chance to play in France.
Three years with the Ligue 1 side followed before Sevilla paid £13.50 million for the Brazilian – but now they could make an incredible profit on the Brazilian as Liverpool have been credited with interested.
But would he fit in with Liverpool?
According to Smarter Scout, Diego Carlos has better ball retention than Joel Matip but slightly worse ball retention compared to Dejan Lovren – although he is worse in the air than both of Jurgen Klopp’s incumbents and that could be a serious problem in the Premier League.
However, the Brazilian is a better tackler and boasts 94/99 for ground duals out of possession while Lovren rates 50 and Matip 48. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that Diego Carlos is a better defender, as Liverpool have so much of the ball the defenders aren’t required to make tackles that often.
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Sevilla’s star is a worse disrupter and recoverer of the ball but his link up play is better than Lovren, but worse than Matip’s. Not great for someone who will need to be a ball playing defender if Liverpool decide to make a move.
At 27, Carlos would have more years at the top than Lovren, although it wouldn’t really make sense to spend big on a player who wouldn’t be an upgrade on Matip and would only get a game when Klopp rotated heavily or for cup games.
The La Liga star might be a good player and he would probably make a good Premier League signing for someone in the league, but just not Liverpool.