Last summer, Liverpool bid farewell to one of their Premier League and Champions League winners in Fabinho, who joined former teammates Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino in the Saudi Pro League. The Reds' most direct replacement was 30-year-old Stuttgart midfielder Wataru Endo, signed in August for a fee of around £16.2m (BBC Sport).
In the first stretch of the season, though, Jurgen Klopp preferred to use another of his summer acquisitions – Alexis Mac Allister – as his deepest midfielder. Indeed, the Argentine would start in that role in 12 of Liverpool's first 14 Premier League matches before he suffered an injury against Sheffield United (Transfermarkt). That gave Endo the opportunity to enjoy a run in the side, and sure enough, he strung together a run of six straight league starts before leaving to join Japan for the Asian Cup.
While Liverpool are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League right now, three points clear of Aston Villa, Klopp still appears intent upon adding a young number six to his ranks as a long-term replacement for Fabinho, and Morten Frendrup may be that man.
Frendrup, 22, left Danish side Brondby to join Serie A club Genoa for a fee of €3.9m in the winter window two years ago. Under contract until 2026, he's made 70 appearances for the club overall and played every single minute for them in the league this season (Transfermarkt).
Liverpool in pole position to sign Frendrup
Liverpool have been monitoring Frendrup for some time, and now a report from Italy claims the Reds are leading the race to sign the defensive midfielder, who like Fabinho can also play at full-back. Indeed, Tuttosport claim Liverpool are in pole position to sign Frendrup ahead of Juventus. The Turin outfit apparently want to sign him in the summer, but he may not make it that far if the Reds firm up their interest.
Frendrup is Serie A's toughest tackler
What kind of defensive midfielder is Frendrup? Well, one talent scout has billed him as a "destroyer" (Jacek Kulig) and that's certainly an assessment that's shown in the data.
Frendrup leads Serie A this season for total tackles (72), indicating the frequency with which he puts his foot in and his ability to sniff out danger, and crucially he also tops the charts for tackles won (37) and dribblers tackled (31) too, which demonstrates that he's making a positive impact. In addition, he places inside the top five for blocks (30), which is more evidence that he relishes the ugly side of the game (FBRef).
1.90
4.0
1.03
2.06
1.06
1.72
1.36
1.67
84%
78.3%
5.81
3.61
However, some of his in-possession numbers may be considered a cause for concern. His pass completion of 78.3% ranks him as low as the 28th percentile when compared to positional peers in comparable leagues over the last year, and he's even lower (21st percentile) for progressive passes.
Even though he's not being particularly ambitious with his passing by trying to find gaps in the opposition defensive structure, he's failing to find a teammate relatively often. By contrast, Endo's completion rate currently stands at 84%, and he's a level above when it comes to progressive passing too (FBRef).
In finding their new six, Liverpool will have to seek an appropriate trade-off between defensive capabilities and offensive contribution, and that's why it's sensible to continue watching Frendrup to see if he can develop the weaker areas of his game.
