According to the Mirror, Liverpool’s out-of-favour right-back, Nathaniel Clyne, has emerged as a transfer target for Leicester City in January.
The 27-year-old has made only one appearance for the Reds so far this season which came in their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
A product of Crystal Palace’s youth system, Clyne achieved commendable success with his boyhood club before moving to Southampton in 2012. His consistent displays for the Saints earned him a move to Anfield in 2015. The 27-year-old quickly established himself as Liverpool’s first-choice right-back and was called up to the England team where he had a brief stint as well.
Initially, Jurgen Klopp utilized him as the team’s first-choice right-back and the English international went on to make a total of 41 appearances across all competitions in the 2016/17 season. However, in the subsequent season, Clyne lost his place in the team due to recurrent injuries.
The emergence of young stars like Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold pushed him down the pecking order at the club. Since then, he hasn’t been able to regain his position and it doesn’t seem like he will anytime soon.
Leicester City, on the other hand, have had their fair share of troubles at the back this season. The Foxes went down 2-1 to Everton last weekend and looked quite shaky at the back. Wes Morgan received his second red card of the season as Claude Puel’s men found it difficult to deal with the flow of attacks.
Leicester have won four and lost four out of their first eight games in the Premier League and Puel’s men have kept only two clean sheets so far. That number doesn’t look good, given that Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell have been in top form this season.
The Foxes have been hit hard by the lack of a quality right-back in their squad. Puel brought in Ricardo Pereira to bolster his options with Danny Simpson being the only other choice. However, the Portuguese international has emerged as a glaring misfit. He has been ripped apart by the opposition on multiple occasions and has left far too much space on the right for the opposition to exploit. To be fair, he has done a better job as a right-winger.
Daniel Amartey has been utilized as a makeshift right-back but he has struggled in an unfamiliar position. Although he has managed to keep out the attacks at times, he has looked uncomfortable and often kicks the ball away aimlessly. In other words, the Ghanaian doesn’t provide much support to the build-up play in terms of the attack.
To put things into perspective, Leicester need a specialist right-back who can deliver the goods on a consistent basis and Nathaniel Clyne is definitely a good option.
The 27-year-old is a good tackler and covers ground quickly at the back. He boasts of commendable positional sense for a full-back and doesn’t allow the opposition much space to work with. In the 2016/17 season, he averaged 2.2 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and 1.5 clearances per game in the Premier League.
To add to that, Clyne likes to go forward and contribute to the attacking play with pacy runs down the right. He might not be the best crosser around but he has the ability to dribble past the opposition full-backs and tends to link the play with quick one-twos at the edge of the box.
Hence, Leicester City should not hesitate to splash the cash and sign Nathaniel Clyne as he could bring a lot of stability to their backline. With Clyne in their ranks, the Foxes can achieve a better defensive record which might propel them to a Europa League playoff spot next season.