Why Liverpool are considering Chieck Doucoure as a replacement for Fabinho

 

As one might expect, Crystal Palace would demand a hefty fee to sell Cheick Doucoure this summer. The 23-year-old has proven a solid addition to the Eagles midfield following his arrival from Lens 12 months ago, and they'd be reluctant to lose a key man in the middle of the park. However, Liverpool's interest in Doucoure may skew their plans. The Reds are in the market for another midfielder in the wake of Fabinho's impending exit, with the youngster believed to be one of their targets. 

 

Palace, though, won't sell for cheap, with a £70m asking price believed to have been set. Liverpool have already spent big to strengthen in the midfield, with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai arriving from Brighton and RB Leipzig, respectively, but they were thrown a curve ball last week when it became clear that Fabinho would depart. With Jordan Henderson and Thiago also expected to leave, coupled with the exits of James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Liverpool do run the risk of being light in a key area of the pitch for next season.

 

Teams will be aware of Liverpool's need to add bodies to the midfield and this in turn will drive asking prices up. The addition of Jefferson Lerma on a free this summer would certainly soften the Eagles' stance on Doucoure, but even then that will be negligible with the former Bournemouth man and his new Palace teammate the only central midfielders on the books. Doucoure is a key man for the south London outfit and they'd require a hefty financial windfall to help fund a replacement were they to sell. 

 

Yet Liverpool would certainly benefit from a player of Doucoure's quality in the middle of the park. They require someone to primarily break up play and shift the ball on to teammates to hurt opponents. Doucoure did this to a very good standard last season, finishing the 2022/23 Premier League campaign sixth for tackles and interceptions combined (133). In his maiden campaign in England's top tier, there were dips in performance levels as he sought to get up to speed with the demands of Premier League football, however this year's worth of experience will serve him well. 

 

 

Whether Liverpool believe he showed enough in a Palace shirt to warrant such a high fee remains to be seen, but as a Fabinho replacement, his work out of possession would certainly help the Reds dominate. It's also worth taking into consideration Liverpool's likely tactical change under Jurgen Klopp next season. From April onwards, Klopp tasked Trent Alexander-Arnold with pushing into midfield, where the attacking side to his game really began to come to the fore once more. 

 

From April 1st until the end of the season, Alexander-Arnold registered more assists (7) than any Premier League player as Liverpool effectively operated in a 3-2-2-3 setup. For the system to work, Alexander-Arnold needs a ball winner in alongside him at the base of the box midfield, so a player to provide the relevant protection for the defence is vital. That being said, as impressive as Doucoure was off the ball last term, there is work to be done to improve his distribution. 

 

Doucoure won't provide much in the attacking phase for Liverpool - he failed to score from one of his 36 shots last season, and while he registered three assists, those came from just 26 key passes - but the core aim will be to win the ball and shift on to Andrew Robertson down the left or Alexander-Arnold to his right. Even so, Doucoure did struggle to successfully retain possession for Palace last season, returning an 83.6% pass success rate from 40 passes per 90, but then this is likely to have been down to the way the Eagles played. 

 

Palace returned the seventh lowest possession average (45.8%) in the Premier League last season, whereas Liverpool ranked second (60.6%) for this metric. In a more dominant setup where Doucoure would see more of the ball, he'd be far more effective in possession. 

 

What is key, though, is that Doucoure proved to be an incredibly press resistant midfielder for Palace last season. Despite their low possession return, Doucoure was dispossessed just 0.6 times per 90 in his debut Premier League campaign as he comfortably held off pressure from opponents. 

 

Doucoure may not have enjoyed a career-defining debut Premier League season at Selhurst Park, yet he showed enough to justify links with a big money move to Liverpool this summer. At his stage of his career, the right guidance will help Doucoure become one of the best in his position, and he'd slot into Liverpool's midfield with relative ease. Palace's asking price may put the Merseyside outfit off, but if Liverpool can strike the right deal for the Senegalese midfielder, then they'd be adding a Premier League experienced ball winner to the ranks, which would aid their title push.

Why Liverpool are considering Chieck Doucoure as a replacement for Fabinho