Who should Liverpool sign? Kalidou Koulibaly vs Diego Carlos

Who wins?

As you can see there really is not a lot in it statistically. At 27 and 185cm tall, Sevilla enforcer Carlos is a younger and shorter than Napoli’s man mountain Koulibaly, who is 28 years old and stands at a towering 195cm.

For me though there is a defining factor which makes one player more suited for Liverpool than the other: van Dijk.

The hulking demi-god of defending from the Netherlands heavily favours playing on the left hand side of a centre back partnership. This is something he shares with Koulibaly which gives me doubts whether they could bring the best out of one another.

In contrast, Diego Carlos can play either side comfortably in a defensive partnership. This may make him a more viable partner to further increase Liverpool’s strength at the back alongside van Dijk.

Carlos would not come cheap despite being less well known. Last month the Daily Mail reported that Liverpool will go head to head with Real Madrid in a battle to secure a deal for around £65 million. Meanwhile, Lovren could potentially be used as an incentive in any deal for Koulibaly.

Ultimately, if Liverpool can pull off a deal for either of these top class defenders then the club will be cementing itself as a regular title challenger for many years to come. I am leaning in favour of Diego Carlos though.