Liverpool’s Summer Targets: EURO 2024 Defender on the Radar

As Arne Slot’s Liverpool career is well and truly underway, attentions are now starting to shift onto the transfer window as the Dutchman will be looking to bolster his squad ahead of the new season. One area of the pitch that Liverpool are reportedly determined to strengthen, is their defensive options.

More specifically, the left-side of the defence is an area that Slot and Richard Hughes are looking to bolster with names like Riccardo Calafiori, Willian Pacho and Levi Colwill all being heavily linked with a switch to Anfield at various points of the summer so far. The latest name being mentioned is Fenerbahce left-back Ferdi Kadioglu, who has reportedly caught the interest of a number of top clubs in Europe, with Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Arsenal all heavily linked with the 24-year-old.

Kadioglu’s Impressive EURO 2024 Performances

The defender enjoyed a successful EURO 2024 campaign with Turkey as they reached the Quarter-Finals with impressive victories over Georgia, Czech Republic and Austria. Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo were on hand to eliminate them in the Quarter-Finals though, before being knocked out by England in the Semi-Finals themselves.

Kadioglu was a standout performer in those games for Turkey, averaging a 7.02 average rating across the five games according to One Football. The 24-year-old also impressed in club football for Fenerbahce last season, racking up 46 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals and assisting a further four.

Crunching the Numbers

Kadioglu is a hugely versatile and well-rounded player, capable of playing pretty much anywhere on the pitch. According to transfermarkt, left-back is his preferred position with 66 appearances in that position, but he has also racked up 56 in attacking midfield, 44 as a right-winger, 37 as a right-back, 23 as a left-winger and 15 as a central midfielder. The really interesting thing about Kadioglu is that he is right-footed too, which is rare to see for a left-sided player. However, Kadioglu also impresses in a range of metrics when looking at his numbers per 90 minutes.

Most notably, Kadioglu is hugely progressive on the ball, ranking in the 99th percentile for touches, progressive carries, passes attempted and progressive passes – which is hugely impressive. However, it’s not just his numbers on the ball that are hugely impressive. Defensively, the 24-year-old ranks highly for tackles + interceptions and % of dribblers tackled per 90 minutes, which are strong symbols of players in teams that control the ball (hence the lack of clearances and blocks).

Kadioglou also holds promising numbers in both shot-creating actions and non-penalty goals, highlighting his creative and goal threat too.

Looking Ahead

It’s a real struggle to see Kadioglu staying at Fenerbahce next season, with his versatility and dynamic traits being a dream for technical coaches like Mikel Arteta and Arne Slot. With a fee of around £21million reportedly enough to secure his signature, I expect one of these big clubs to sign him this summer.

Whether that is Liverpool though, remains to be seen, but there is plenty of time remaining in the summer window for deals to be completed.