Arne Slot has cultivated a convincing reputation for his interpersonal and inventive qualities as a head coach, with such traits speaking highly of his faculty for success as the soon-to-arrive successor to Jurgen Klopp's position in the dugout at Liverpool.
The 45-year-old has enjoyed successive trophy-winning seasons at Feyenoord, winning the Dutch Eredivisie title last term and the KNVB Cup a few weeks ago, inculcating a booming thrash-metal style into his players. He's charismatic, disciplined, and fiery after his fashion – sound familiar?
Liverpool are, admittedly, taking a bit of a risk in offering Slot his first berth in a top-five European league, throwing him into the deep end as Klopp's heir, an unenviable position in many ways, but he fits the bill and might keep Liverpool competing at the front of domestic and continental football.
He will need to make some signings though, and while the defence will be the Dutchman's priority, a midfield target appears to have been identified.
Slot could sign Premier League midfielder for Liverpool
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool are one of the top outfits interested in signing Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Carlos Baleba, who only joined the Seagulls from Lille in a £23m transfer last summer.
Tough-tackling and dynamic, the 20-year-old has started to earn a regular spot in the starting line-up under Roberto De Zerbi and has all the qualities of a high-level star in the future.
With Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester United also eyeing up the rising star, Brighton have slapped a £55m asking price on the Cameroon-born player.
Carlos Baleba's season in numbers
Appearances from the opening whistle have been intermittent for Baleba at Brighton but he's only just shaken off his teenage years and is very much in the fledgling phase of a lengthy career, pointers suggesting that this could be played at the summit of the Premier League.
Still, while De Zerbi's men have struggled for consistency in recent months, Baleba has been rewarded for his fast rise and robust athleticism with a role of heightened importance, starting seven of the south coast club's past eight Premier League matches, albeit winning just once.
As per Sofascore, the £12.5k-per-week midfielder has completed 92% of his passes across his 23 Premier League outings in 2023/24, averaging 1.6 tackles, 3.7 ball recoveries and 4.1 successful duels per match and succeeding with 69% of his dribbles.
Right from the start of his career, while plying his trade in France, the ace has been regarded as one of the most promising players of his age bracket, with former teammate Remy Cabella even hailing him as a "monster" with "incredible strength" – his raw muscle has been tempered with technical fine-tuning and drilling of diligence and composure.
Here, below, is Baleba running Liverpool's midfield ragged in the 2-2 draw at the AMEX Stadium back in October, with his natural prowess clear to any onlooker. On Merseyside, he could be sharpened into a first-rate machine.
As per FBref, Baleba ranks among the top 6% of central midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 19% for shots taken, the top 15% for tackles, the top 4% for blocks, the top 16% for clearances and the top 14% for aerial duels won per 90.
It's this array of attributes that has led the stats-led site to name Chelsea's Moises Caicedo as one of Baleba's most comparable Premier League players – which perhaps says it all vis-à-vis Liverpool's intrigue in his signature.
Why Liverpool are interested in Carlos Baleba
Let's hark back to last summer. It's August. The 2023/24 Premier League campaign is but a few weeks away. Liverpool manager Klopp has freed his engine room of a host of struggling stars and moved swiftly to tie up moves for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
But a specialist defensive midfielder was still needed and after the pursuit of Southampton prodigy Romeo Lavia turned protracted following a series of failed bids, Liverpool sought to swipe Brighton phenom Caicedo from under Chelsea's nose, only to fail after the Ecuadorian rejected their advance, soon followed to Stamford Bridge by Lavia.
Liverpool and stand-in sporting director Jorg Schmadtke were left hot under the collar, and a contingency then arrived in the form of Japan midfielder Wataru Endo, who signed from Stuttgart for £16m.
The 31-year-old has been a hard-working and dependable player but he's not the long-term solution to Liverpool's midfield-anchoring position, and Baleba could find that a move to Anfield works just find as he battles and learns from his experienced positional peer.
Matches played
26
Matches started
17
Goals
1
Pass completion
88%
Key passes per game
0.5
Ball recoveries per game
3.4
Dribbles per game
0.3 (67%)
Tackles per game
1.5
Interceptions per game
0.7
Clearances per game
1.0
Duels won per game
3.8 (44%)
While Endo can largely be forgiven for his foibles given the shift he has put in throughout the campaign, his overall statistics from the Premier League season speak of the need for a defensive midfielder of a higher class, in the long run.
Caicedo might not have enjoyed the greatest of debut campaigns with Chelsea but he remains one of the highest-profile and most talented midfielders that the Premier League offers, tagged with a British-record £115m market price and described as a "midfield machine" by talent scout Jacek Kulig in the past.
The 22-year-old, like Baleba, is one of the crispest distributors on English shores with immense levels of energy and a tenacious defensive approach, completing 91% of his passes in the Premier League this season, averaging 2.5 tackles, 5.6 successful duels and 5/7 ball recoveries per game, as per Sofascore.
Some might fear that Baleba would falter with the increased pressure that comes with a transfer to Liverpool, but Endo can counterbalance the expectations and Baleba can grow into his skin at the dawn of an exciting new project.
It's a project that he might be the face of in the years to come.
Liverpool must drop 4/10 man to unleash "special" teen who Slot would love
The Reds midfielder did not enjoy his best afternoon against West Ham on Saturday.
ByDan Emery