Some candid analysis takes Liverpool's fantastic start to the 2023/24 campaign into consideration but illuminates the need for reinforcements, with Jurgen Klopp's side impressing atop the Premier League but yet to address some of the glaring causes for concern.
While last season's fifth-placed finish is now just a poignant memory, the Reds are far from reaching their peak as a collective and have found the lack of a specialist defensive midfielder hinder their efforts at times.
Joel Matip's season-ending ACL injury has also illuminated the desperate need for defensive reinforcements, and given that Klopp prioritised the bolstering of the midfield last summer, the focus could now shift.
Liverpool transfer targets – Leny Yoro
According to French outlet Le10 Sport, Liverpool have opened discussions with Les Bleus defender Ibrahima Konate to extend his contract at Anfield, having joined from RB Leipzig for £36m in 2020.
Further, Klopp and co are expected to target players to strengthen the defensive ranks, and while Konate and captain Virgil van Dijk, who is 32 years old, are both first-class players, depth is needed and LOSC Lille's teenage talent Leny Yoro could be the perfect option for transfer.
The towering young titan has been in fine fettle after breaking into Paulo Fonseca's senior set-up last term and has subsequently got heads swivelling.
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Manchester City and Manchester United are both interested in a deal too, and while the 18-year-old is only valued at £17m by CIES Football Observatory, it would likely take a greater fee to prise him away from his Ligue 1 club.
That said, he is out of contract in 2025 and thus Liverpool have a golden chance to seal a swoop.
Leny Yoro's style of play
Having barely entered adulthood, Yoro has confidently asserted himself as a true prodigy on the French scene, playing 13 times in Ligue 1 last season and being dubbed a "sensation" by 90min's Graeme Bailey for his labours.
This season, he has grown into his skin and staked a claim for a starring role in Lille's system, having started 13 times in the French top-flight and kept an impressive eight clean sheers, also scoring two goals, completing 91% of his passes, making 4.1 ball recoveries and 3.0 clearances per game and succeeding in 66% of his contested duels, as per Sofascore.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 10% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals scored, the top 8% for pass completion and the top 15% for passes attempted per 90.
Already developing a shrewd eye for goal and honing a ball-playing skill that bespeaks his superlative technical ability, Yoro is destined for prominence, there is no doubt about that, and a club such as Liverpool could provide him with the means to realise his ambitions.
Proclaimed to be "world-class material" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the 6 foot 3 Yoro could hone his craft beneath Van Dijk and Konate in the pecking order, but this should not be a deterrent for the future Les Bleus centrepiece.
With Matip sidelined for the season and out of contract at the end of the campaign, questions have been asked regarding the Cameroonian veteran's future.
Aged 32, he may well depart in June, and if he does, Yoro would be the perfect replacement, allowing Konate to step up to a starring role and embedding some precocious quality into the backline's foundation.
How Leny Yoro compares to William Saliba
So, Yoro is a talented young defender and has caught the eye with his performances in France this season, impressing at just 18 and attracting the attention of England's finest.
But why should Liverpool invest in this player? Why not Jonathan Tah of Bayer Leverkusen, who is an integral member of Xabi Alonso's credible title challenge? Why not Goncalo Inacio of Sporting Lisbon, who is among the most remarkable ball-playing defensive prospects around, holding a €60m (£52m) release clause in his contract?
Well, as mentioned above, Liverpool's defensive axis is among the best on English shores and to invest lucrative amounts would not be representative of the thrifty methods that have permitted Klopp's glinted dynasty to succeed.
Yoro is young and tractable, in the sense that he can be bent and sculpted to a style that slots into the Anfield system like a key into a lock, which in turn will open the door to lasting triumph.
Jonathan Tah
Bayer Leverkusen
Joseph Aidoo
Celta Vigo
Samuel Umtiti
Lille
Castello Lukeba
RB Leipzig
William Saliba
Arsenal
*Sourced via FBref
With Arsenal's William Saliba among Yoro's most comparable players on the European scene, Klopp's interest may well be justified, with several enticing comparisons drawn between the French defenders.
Completing a £27m transfer to the Emirates Stadium from Saint Etienne in 2019, Saliba only made his debut for the club at the start of the 2022/23 campaign after spending several terms on loan, honing his craft, but he is now regarded as one of the Premier League's best defenders.
Earning a place in the division's Team of the Season, the France international played 27 times before an injury ruled him out of the business end of the year, preceding a late slump that allowed Manchester City to take the league and glean their third successive title.
Arsenal are tied with Liverpool for the Premier League's best defence this year, shipping 15 goals so far across 16 fixtures, and Saliba has been pivotal, playing every minute, completing 93% of his passes, making 5.6 ball recoveries per game and winning 62% of his ground duels. That innate ball-playing ability, then, is a lot like Yoro.
He is perfect for the Premier League, with the sturdy frame and imposing build to battle and beat the rigours presented by the division's tough-tackling defences, and the ball-playing skill to thrive at an ambitious club such as Liverpool.
While Liverpool boast formidable options at centre-back including an exciting young talent in Jarell Quansah who is eyeing a prominent role in the first-team soon, Yoro is the creme-de-la-creme among defensive teenage talents and would provide Klopp with a new dimension to swing the odds in his side's favour.