Liverpool's Transfer Strategy: The Case for Nico Paz
Liverpool used to shop with a ruler and a plan. Under Jürgen Klopp, every signing seemed to plug a hole, fit a system, answer a question. Now, in the post-Klopp era, the club has veered toward a different idea entirely: forget the gaps, just grab the best talent available and let the head coach sort out the chaos.
It’s bold. It’s expensive. And it’s exactly why Nico Paz should be at the very top of Liverpool’s list.
From structure to scattergun
The shift has been obvious. Instead of targeted, role-specific recruits, Liverpool have ended up with two similar central strikers, a complete absence of natural defensive midfielders, four players who prefer the left wing and none who are true right-wingers. A centre-back has been used at right-back while the actual right-back signing is apparently not trusted in that role.
It looks like a squad built by a committee that fell in love with talent first and asked questions later. The upside? With that much quality floating around, it’s hard to completely collapse. This kind of “stack the deck with good players” strategy almost guarantees European football of some kind, with the floor sitting around sixth or seventh place unless the recruitment is catastrophically bad.
The comparison with Manchester United’s recent transfer chaos hangs in the air. Spend big on the wrong players and the safety net disappears.
Liverpool haven’t fallen that far. But the structure that once defined them has frayed. Which is why the Nico Paz question is so interesting.
The Nico Paz dilemma – and opportunity
On paper, Liverpool don’t have a clear spot for Nico Paz. That used to be a deal-breaker. Now, under the new philosophy, it’s almost irrelevant.
If the brief is simple – sign the best player you can get – then Paz fits the bill.
The Argentine’s rise last season was spectacular, even if it didn’t dominate headlines. By one advanced metric, the Value Adder model, he ranked as the fifth-most valuable player across Europe’s top five leagues. Maybe that slightly flatters him. It still underlines how devastatingly effective he was.
He didn’t just shine going forward. He suffocated opponents without the ball. Among attacking midfielders in Serie A, he stood alone defensively, so far ahead of his peers that calling him the best defensive attacking midfielder in Italy almost undersells it. His numbers and impact put him among the league’s elite defensive players, full stop – from a forward starting position.
At 22, that blend of pressing, tackling, intelligence and creativity is rare. Clubs don’t just stumble across players who can anchor a press, knit play together and still hurt you in the final third.
Real Madrid clearly saw the trajectory. They sold him back to Como in the summer but protected themselves with an increased buy-back clause, reportedly set at €80m. That alone is a statement. A club that ruthless about value doesn’t inflate clauses for nothing.
Chelsea, though, are said to be ready to go beyond that figure and pay €100m.
Liverpool can’t watch this one go by
This is where Liverpool’s new transfer logic is put to the test. If the club genuinely intend to chase the best available players rather than the neatest positional fits, then Paz is the litmus case.
Letting Chelsea step in and take a 22-year-old all-rounder of this calibre, one who could define a pressing game for years, would sting. This isn’t a luxury signing in disguise. This is a system-shaper.
He also fits a tactical idea that has already been floated around Anfield: a strikerless setup with Florian Wirtz pulling strings. Imagine two Roberto Firmino types, not in name but in function. Forwards who don’t just wait for service but create the platform for everyone else – attacking space, dragging defenders out of shape, forcing gaps with relentless movement and defensive work.
Paz feels made for that kind of structure. He can lead a press, protect the middle, link play and still arrive in dangerous positions. Pair him with Wirtz and Liverpool suddenly have a fluid, shape-shifting front line that doesn’t rely on a traditional No 9 but constantly manipulates space.
For a club already drifting toward a “talent first, solve it later” model, this is the kind of problem you want to have. Too many high-level options, not enough shirts.
The market will be brutal. The price will be huge. But if Liverpool truly believe in their new direction, if they really are committed to signing the best player on the table next summer, then there’s a simple question:
How can that player be anyone other than Nico Paz?
