Liverpool were joined by their new January signing at last in training this week.
The Reds’ winter window went under the radar. It was probably dominated by the things they didn’t do.
Not signing Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi will likely come back to haunt Liverpool’s ambitions. Those two players have given Manchester City a massive push towards the Premier League title.
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Both of those players were also on Liverpool’s radar. If the Reds had got them, this season could have turned out a lot more differently.
Alas, things this season were never meant to be.
However, while we look at January now as a failure, in years to come we could look back on this as a successful and pivotal period of Liverpool’s rebuild.
After all, it was in this window that Richard Hughes secured the signing of Jeremy Jacquet, who will become a key part of Liverpool’s future plans at centre-back.
But not only the Frenchman.
Liverpool also signed Mor Talla Ndiaye who joined the club’s U21 side, and has caught the eye in a few appearances under Rob Page, including on his debut against Manchester City.
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The 18-year-old s a towering defender with great long legs that aid him in defensive situations.
He has everything to be an elite centre-back. Tall, quick, and he reads the game really well. The thing that immediately stood out about him at the U17 World Cup was his composure and quality on the ball.
He averaged the most passes (83 per 90) out of centre-backs at the tournament. Impressively, he completed 91% of his passes.
What makes this number even more eye catching is that he wasn’t playing it safe with sideway passes, he was always looking to progress the ball.
He averaged the most forward passes per 90 (35.65) and 17 progressive passes per 90. With time and space he was able to break lines and look for those situations where he could instigate attacking situations for his team.
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At times he was able to make long switches (7.6 long balls per 90) and generally preferred to play diagonal balls. Watching him, it’s obvious that he is always aware of where his teammates are ahead of him.
Given the ease with which he settled into life in Premier League 2, it’s no surprise that Ndiaye has been rewarded for his excellent start to life at Liverpool.
On Thursday, he finally joined the Reds’ first-team for the first-time and participated in the club’s training session ahead of taking on Crystal Palace at the weekend.
This was a significant moment for Ndiaye and something he will have been dreaming about. There’s a chance now that he’s part of the first-team cluster that he could be involved from now until the end of the season, perhaps in a matchday squad.