Liverpool Hidden £132m Midfield Shortlist Revealed After Transfer Window Shuts

The summer transfer window closed with a flurry of high-stakes moves, but behind the scenes at Anfield, the recruitment team was quietly mapping out a contingency plan that featured two of Europe’s most talked-about young midfielders. While attention ultimately centered on blockbuster moves elsewhere, Liverpool’s internal shortlist revealed a calculated approach to future-proofing their engine room.

The ghost of Fabinho still haunts Anfield.

Ever since the Brazilian powerhouse packed his bags for Saudi Arabia, leaving behind a trail of tactical stability, masterclass defensive displays, and championship medals, Liverpool’s search for a true, elite anchor has felt like an unresolved puzzle. Moises Caicedo slipped through their fingers in a chaotic summer scramble, Martin Zubimendi ultimately chose to stay in San Sebastian, and transfer window after transfer window has ticked by with the same lingering, anxiety-inducing question: How do you replace a player who essentially anchored an entire era of success?

Instead of buying a ready-made destroyer, Liverpool pivoted. They looked at a lanky, elegant Dutch midfielder struggling for minutes in his debut season, shifted his positioning, and asked him to completely reinvent himself.

The Gravenberch Evolution

When Ryan Gravenberch was first asked to anchor Liverpool’s midfield under Arne Slot, traditionalists and pundits raised eyebrows. This wasn’t a snarling, crunching number six in the mould of a prime Fabinho or Javier Mascherano. Gravenberch was a natural runner, a progressive carrier who loved to glide past opponents with the ball glued to his toes, thriving higher up the pitch.

Yet, during that stunning campaign, he made the position his own with breathtaking poise. He swept up possession with surprisingly clever interceptions, turned defense into attack in the blink of an eye, and powered through opposition presses. For a glittering stretch, it looked like Liverpool had unlocked a brilliant, modern, hybrid solution a technical controller rather than a pure defensive destroyer.

Football, however, is a relentless game of tactical attrition. Recent midfield battles have occasionally exposed the flip side of this experiment. When Gravenberch is drawn forward to press, or when Liverpool are caught in chaotic transitions, the space left vacant right in front of the central defenders can become exposed.

Analysts and former players have pointed to those exact structural vulnerabilities to argue that relying entirely on a converted box-to-box midfielder leaves the back line fighting fires.

It sparks an eternal, passionate debate among the fanbase: Should Gravenberch be pushed further forward into his natural advanced role where his athleticism can hurt teams in the final third, or is he the definitive, long-term answer if given absolute tactical discipline?

The Market Scramble and Fernandes

This underlying tension explains why Liverpool’s recruitment team continue to quietly comb Europe for midfield reinforcements,

Take the recent summer transfer window, for instance. While Liverpool were not actively looking to disrupt their core structure with Alexis Mac Allister remaining an absolute pillar of Slot’s team and will look to play an important role in Andoni Iraola, and players like Lamine Camara earmarked as potential contingencies Anfield chiefs were monitoring the market’s biggest anomalies.

According to James Pearce report in the Athletic he states: Chief among them was Mateus Fernandes.

in the report it says: “Liverpool weren’t looking to move Alexis Mac Allister on. But if he had pushed for a move and a suitable offer had been forthcoming then Lamine Camara would have been the favoured replacement. Interest in him could be revived in 2027 but there are no guarantees. Another midfielder who featured on Liverpool’s shortlist if they had decided to strengthen in that area was Mateus Fernandes “

Fernandes spent the final weeks of the window draped in the sort of multi-club intrigue usually reserved for marquee forwards. Having arrived at West Ham United just a year prior in August 2025 for £38 million following an earlier £15 million switch from Sporting CP the 21-year-old Portugal international was a rare, shining light in a miserable campaign.

West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League was a cruel blow, dropping them into the Championship despite a final-day win, but Fernandes’ 38-appearance, four-goal season convinced insiders he had the ceiling to eventually match Declan Rice.

When the inevitable fire sale began, a fierce queue formed. Manchester United pushed hard, Arsenal circled, and Real Madrid and PSG monitored the situation. Tottenham, however, were determined to win the race. They ultimately smashed their previous club transfer record previously £65m for Dominic Solanke by putting down a staggering £85 million to bring Fernandes to North London.

Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano later confirmed on the Born ‘N Red YouTube channel that Liverpool made a discreet, unpublicized call to West Ham just two weeks before the window closed to understand the price and conditions surrounding Fernandes. Ultimately, they chose not to follow up that inquiry with an official bid, unwilling to match an inflated £85m valuation driven by a relegation scramble.

The Ongoing Quest

The reality remains that reinforcing the midfield is not a luxury for Liverpool; it is an ongoing necessity. The demands of competing on four fronts require immense depth, and the physical toll on a single holding option is immense.

Until Liverpool either unearth a specialist who can completely lock down the defensive third with absolute authority, or until Gravenberch completely masters every single dark art of the holding role over a sustained multi-year period, the shadow of Fabinho will continue to loom large.

The interest in Fernandes and the ongoing tracking of emerging talents show that the club’s hierarchy are well aware and the quest for the ultimate, long-term solution in the center of the pitch is far from over.