Liverpool already has midfielder who can better Rice that only Rodri can match (2024)

As Liverpool reshapes its midfield this summer, there are going to be changes at the other clubs hoping to be in title contention next season as well, with that part of the pitch where most movement across the market appears to be so far.

At Anfield, four midfield players have moved out and Alexis Mac Allister has come in so far, though more additions will follow across the course of the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, İlkay Gündoğan is going to leave a big gap at Manchester City and Bernardo Silva could follow him out, and Declan Rice is the man that Mikel Arteta feels can take his Arsenal midfield to another level.

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Arguably the best midfielder in the country last season was Rodri, a player that Manchester City can build around for years to come given he has only just turned 27.

Rice, Arsenal will hope, can be a similarly effective player in the center of the pitch for them, while Fabinho is the deepest-lying player at Liverpool that will provide the basis heading into the new campaign for Jürgen Klopp.

Last season, Fabinho struggled for the majority. Lacking the physical traits required to perform his incredibly difficult single-pivot role, he only improved once Trent Alexander-Arnold was brought in alongside him.

With a better set-up adding legs and energy around him, Fabinho was able to drag his game up significantly, though not to the peak levels of performance that he showed earlier in his career.

The hope will be that with players like Mac Allister brought in, Fabinho can at least sustain the levels that he was at toward the back end of the previous season. Ideally, he would take another big step forward and get back to being Liverpool's lighthouse, with his world-class ability to win the ball back and distribute it having been sorely missed.

Rodri is the man that sets the standards for that role these days, though Fabinho is the only player in the Premier League who has proven capable of matching the Spaniard in the past.

Rice might be able to do it with better players around him and Casemiro had a good season at Manchester United, but neither has been there and done it for a title-winning or title-challenging side in England as Fabinho has. Rice might be capable with Arsenal, while Casemiro clearly is having done so for Real Madrid, but at Manchester United, does not have the same quality around him.

There remains an argument that Liverpool should be looking to bring in another number six to compete with Fabinho for minutes, but his upturn at the end of last season offers hope that the Brazilian can improve of his own accord. The Reds have the data and the numbers about his physical condition to be able to assess the likelihood of that.

Ultimately, though, if it is to be Fabinho as the foundation upon which the new-look Liverpool midfield is going to be built upon, then much responsibility lies on his shoulders to get back to something closer to his best. Do that, and there is no reason that he cannot be at least as effective as Rice at Arsenal within the Liverpool system.

In that scenario, Liverpool would have a player capable of matching what Rodri offers Pep Guardiola. Fail to be reignited by the fresh legs and functioning system in place around him, though, and Fabinho's form will return to being a major talking point. If Liverpool does not sign another number six this summer, much of what happens will rest of the fortunes of one man.

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