Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey believes his old club could save more than £100m in the transfer market through the rapid development of Trey Nyoni. Heskey says the 19-year-old can solve Liverpool's No.6 problem from within the squad, allowing more attack-minded team-mates to push forward.
Heskey backs Nyoni to fill holding role
Liverpool have spent nine-figure fees on midfielders in recent windows, but Heskey insists they will not need to follow rivals Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester City paid £116m for Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest this summer, while Tottenham agreed a £100m deal with Newcastle United for Sandro Tonali.
Liverpool instead bolstered their attacking options with the £123m capture of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, following the £125m and £116m transfers of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz 12 months earlier. Questions have been raised over whether new Reds boss Andoni Iraola has the right balance in midfield, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister all better suited to more advanced roles.
Nyoni's impact on team-mates
Heskey believes Nyoni can make the holding position his own and unlock two of his more attack-minded team-mates. "Can Trey Nyoni save Liverpool £100m in the transfer market by filling the place of the holding midfielder they'd otherwise need to sign? 100%," said the ex-England striker, who scored 60 goals in 223 appearances for Liverpool in the early 2000s.
"You've got to remember, too, he's only 19, so he can keep doing this for the next 10 years. A lot of fans and a lot of pundits have been looking at Liverpool and saying they haven't really got anyone who can punch a ball through and keep it moving but now we're seeing that that's what Trey does, and he does it well."
"He's only slight, so we're not really looking at his stature and thinking he will be winning possession back at this moment in time but he's doing well with the ball, and what he produces for Liverpool in that role has been outstanding. It allows Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch to play further forward, and that's probably where you get the best out of them, and they can help Trey by covering the ground and winning back the ball more aggressively than he can."
"If they can play in these higher positions, with Trey sitting back, it could give Liverpool a new lease of life because Gravenberch was only playing that role himself out of necessity. He's not a holding midfielder. He only played there because Liverpool didn't have anyone else. Now he can play further forward and we'll start to see what he's really about as a midfielder too."
Nyoni and Ngumoha impress in defeats
The Reds return to Premier League action on Sunday against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, on the back of back-to-back defeats for the first time under Iraola. One of the big positives from the losses to Arsenal in the Premier League and Fenerbahce in the Champions League was the performances of Nyoni and fellow teenage talent Rio Ngumoha.
Ngumoha will be pushing for a start against Palace after his display in Istanbul. Heskey can see similarities between the 18-year-old and another former England international, Joe Cole, who enjoyed a decorated career at Chelsea before a short spell at Anfield.
"The only player I could probably compare Rio Ngumoha to is Joe Cole," said Heskey. "Sometimes we forget, as time goes by, we forget how good players were, and Joe Cole was a dribbler. There were players that couldn't get near him."
"Joe Cole played more centrally than Rio does. Rio's a winger. I'm sure I've seen another player like Joe Cole to be honest with you because as a dribbler through the middle he was arguably the best. He'd go left, right, twisting players through the middle, taking players on, doing two or three stepovers, and this was all when he was 18 or 19 playing at West Ham."
"He changed a little bit when he went to Chelsea, but that was a credit to how he could adapt his game too, and something Rio needs to learn from. You go from West Ham to Chelsea and suddenly you're no longer the big fish in the small pond. You're part of this system and you've got to find out where you fit in, and he went on to win the league and plenty of other trophies playing that way, so who can say it was wrong?"
"Maybe we'll see Rio take Liverpool to a few more league titles as his style of play matures too."
Liverpool are currently sixth in the standings, 12 points behind defending champions Arsenal, who have played one match more.
