Sokratis Papastathopoulos could be Liverpool’s Steven Caulker for 2021

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Liverpool are currently in a defensive crisis. Virgil van Dijk’s injury looks set to rule the Dutchman out for the season but the Reds appeared to be handling the issue. However, Joe Gomez has now suffered a serious knee injury in England training and the Reds are now looking desperately short at the back. 

Of course, this is not the first time Jurgen Klopp has found himself in this situation at Anfield. 

In January 2016, Liverpool were looking at injuries to first-team regulars Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren whilst Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho were also struggling with niggling issues. 

So Liverpool swooped on one-cap England international Steven Caulker that winter, although the QPR loanee ended up being used as an auxiliary striker more than a defender. 

So could Liverpool dive into the transfer market for a surprise recruit again this winter? Perhaps a free agent? Or like Caulker, a player out of favour and down on his luck?

So could Sokratis Papastathopoulos be that man this time around.

The Greek defender is currently out of favour at Liverpool’s Premier League rivals Arsenal but is a man known to Jurgen Klopp. 

The pair worked together at Borussia Dortmund and Klopp once hailed the intensity of the player, admitting he was never sure if he was going to try and kill him or not. 

Sokratis, for his part, responded last year. As quoted by The Mirror in 2019, the defender stated: “I took what Jurgen said as a ­compliment, of course. I had a good relationship with him, having played for him at Dortmund.

“He was very good with me. I hope he wins the Champions League final.”

Likely to be available in January, this could be a perfect stop-gap option for Liverpool to fill their clear absences at the heart of defence. 

One man’s garbage might just become another man’s treasure.