Liverpool Transfer News: Christoph Kramer Would Improve Reds Midfield

After drafting a surfeit of players this summer, it’s an arduous task picking holes in this Liverpool squad. Brendan Rodgers has assembled a group that are superb in attack, balanced in midfield and bolstered in defence. In addition, the core of the squad is young, progressive and hungry to succeed.

But no side is perfect, and as the Reds look to expedite their rise back to the pinnacle of both domestic and European competition, improvements will constantly be looking to be made.

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So going over the squad with a forensic eye, Liverpool currently seem to be without a quality defensive midfield player. A player who can sit at the base of the midfield, get about the pitch with gumption and disrupt opponents with astute positioning and sharp tackling.

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That man could be German international Christoph Kramer, who is reportedly a target for both Liverpool and Manchester United, per Jamie Anderson of the Express. Bild (h/t BBC Sport) have also noted the interest of the the Merseysiders, along with a host of other European juggernauts.

Kramer is currently on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach from Bayer Leverkusen for the second consecutive season. The 23-year-old shone during his time at Borussia Park during the 2013/14 campaigh, and he earned an unexpected call-up to Joachim Low’s Germany squad for the 2014 World Cup.

In Brazil, he started one game and made two substitute appearances; the one start came in the final, where Kramer helped Germany beat Argentina.

Indeed, he seems to adapt superbly to the requisite level. Upon leaving the Bay Arena, Kramer settled right into the heart of the Monchengladbach midfield, as noted here by German football expert Ross Dunbar: 

So on reflection, it’s easy to see why Kramer was drafted into the World Cup squad, for aside from that adaptability, he boasts a host of characteristics that ooze from every pore of Low’s Germany side—qualities that would bring plenty to Liverpool’s midfield too.

Here’s how he fared during the last campaign up against some of the Reds’ more defensively minded midfield players:

	Kramer	Gerrard	Henderson	Allen
Appearances	33	34	35	24
Goals	3	13	4	1
Pass Accuracy	88%	86%	87%	87%
Average Defensive Actions	5	5	4	2
Defensive Errors	1	5	4	1

The Monchenglabach man’s best attributes are his work-rate and irrepressible energy. Kramer is a wonderfully industrious player, and his influence on the pitch is immovable throughout the course of a match, due primarily to the amount of miles he clocks up.

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While Steven Gerrard has adapted his game well to become a deep-lying playmaker, to have a player like Kramer with that unyielding intensity and efficient distribution at the base of the midfield would make the Reds a much more difficult prospect to break down. At 6’3” he brings a real presence to the midfield, too.

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A athletic, powerful influence Kramer most certainly is, but that doesn’t mean a compromise technically. The German international has shown he’s capable of pushing forward with the ball and opening up sides with incisive passing. For Monchengladbach, this has been a crucial facet to their attacking play, with the midfielder’s surges regularly creating space for the likes of Max Kruse and Raffael.

His ability on the ball has been pretty prominent from an early age anyway, as this goal for Bochum from 2012 illustrates, per Cristian Nyari: 

Slowly but surely, Kramer is developing into a wonderful multifaceted midfield player. And with his contract set to expire with Leverkusen come the end of the campaign, you can guarantee there will be a long queue of clubs waiting to offer the German a lucrative deal.

With Gerrard approaching the end of his career, the Reds are going to need to find a player who comes close in replacing his incomparable influence. At the moment, there are few young midfielders progressing as quickly as Kramer, and if the Anfield outfit can get him on board for a nominal fee or even on a free transfer, he’d be an excellent option to fill the void eventually left behind by the club icon.