Guehi, wages and what Liverpool actually need

I’m not going to pretend I saw the Guehi talk coming last summer. Good player, no doubt, but even then I couldn’t really picture him strolling in and dislodging Konate and Van Dijk. That’s been a proper partnership, and if you’re Guehi with England thoughts in the back of your mind, you’re not signing up to be a part-time option, are you?

It’s why the simple question still matters: back in July, are you putting him straight into our best XI? Most wouldn’t. And that’s before you even get into the fact we were already carrying a delicate balance at centre-half once Quansah left and the numbers looked thin.

The set-piece problem isn’t just “win your header”

Where I’m fully on board with the original point is this: Liverpool’s set-piece issues often don’t feel like a first-contact problem. Konate and Van Dijk are monsters for winning that initial duel. The damage, too often, comes after that; second balls, loose runners, the shape of the set-up once the first header drops and suddenly it’s chaos.

So if the biggest leak is organisation and second phase, throwing a new centre-back into the mix only helps if he raises the level there too, not just on the headline “defending corners” bit.

Aerial profile: what Klopp-era Liverpool valued still matters

There’s also the uncomfortable question of profile. If you accept the numbers quoted, Guehi’s aerial success rate sits well below what we get from Konate and Van Dijk. And the league does feel more direct at times: more territory football, more early balls, more set pieces deciding tight games. In that world, aerial dominance isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a foundation.

That points you towards a centre-back signing who looks and feels closer to what we’ve already got: strong in the air, happy defending the box, and not asking you to redesign the whole back line to accommodate him.

Wages and PSR: Liverpool can’t (and won’t) play City’s game

The money side is the other big reality check. City can stockpile centre-backs on huge wages and live with it. Liverpool generally don’t. If a player arrives on massive money, he has to be a nailed-on starter, because you’re locking that cost in for years and it limits what you can do elsewhere.

That’s why the “Nathan Collins type” shout makes sense as a concept: not specifically saying it has to be him, more the idea of a good Premier League-level defender who can start when needed, accept a squad role when Konate and Virgil are fit, and doesn’t come with a wage that reshapes the whole structure.

In other words, it’s not just “is Guehi good?” It’s “does he fit what Liverpool need, tactically and financially, without creating a problem the moment he isn’t playing every week?”

Written by FastDog1977: 20 January 2026