(Video) Paul Scholes suggests Liverpool missed the boat on a ‘brilliant’ number 6 this summer

Although Liverpool’s pursuit of Martin Zubimendi has accelerated over the past 24 hours, Paul Scholes has suggested that there’s a ‘brilliant’ defensive midfielder on whom the Reds missed out this summer.

LFC had been linked with a potential move for Joao Palhinha earlier this year when the Portuguese destroyer was at Fulham (Football Insider), but he ended up joining Bayern Munich last month.

Speaking on Fan Debate on The Overlap, the ex-Manchester United midfielder named the 29-year-old as someone for whom we could’ve possibly swooped before the Bundesliga giants pounced.

Scholes said of Liverpool’s prospective transfer activity this month: “I think it’s important they add someone solid. In an ideal world, we’ve all talked about Rodri. He’s the best in the world at doing it, but there were actually players they could have gone for.

“You think of the lad at Fulham who went to Bayern Munich, Palhinha. I thought he was brilliant in the World Cup. I thought he was one who could’ve possibly gone to Liverpool, just to sort everything out in the middle of the pitch, make that spine stronger and let the rest of the players play.”

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Palhinha is certainly a player we’d have welcomed at Anfield if we had gone for him this summer – his match average of 4.6 tackles was the highest of any player in the Premier League last season (WhoScored).

However, Liverpool’s pursuit of Zubimendi indicates that Arne Slot is looking for a different mould at the base of midfield, someone who excels in helping to dictate control of possession rather than the archetypal destroyer of opposition attacks.

The Bayern powerhouse is brilliant at what he does, but it appears that he just wasn’t quite what the Reds’ new head coach is seeking.

You can view Scholes’ comments below (from 8:20), via The Overlap on YouTube:

The post (Video) Paul Scholes suggests Liverpool missed the boat on a ‘brilliant’ number 6 this summer appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.