Liverpool are not expected to do anything drastic in the transfer window this month despite calls for reinforcements across several positions, with Jurgen Klopp's side pushing for silverware across multiple fronts.
Andrew Robertson continues his rehabilition from a shoulder injury while Kostas Tsimikas broke his collarbone against Arsenal before Christmas, but Liverpool recalled left-back Owen Beck, 21, from his impressive loan spell at Dundee.
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Jarell Quansah's emergence has also combatted the season-ending injury to Joel Matip, and given the lucrative spending last summer, it's possible that Klopp will bide his time ahead of the season to strike.
Liverpool transfer news – Joshua Kimmich
According to a report from Spanish publication AS earlier this week, Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich is a possible transfer target for Liverpool, with rivals Manchester United also interested.
The Germany international, aged 28, is out of contract in 2025 and has not shown concrete signs of entering discussions for renewal at this stage.
And while he's valued at £48m by Football Transfers, Kimmich might be available for a bargain fee if Bayern are unable to make ground, and the Reds will be taking note of this.
Joshua Kimmich's style of play
Kimmich has amassed 367 appearances for Bayern since signing from divisional rivals Stuttgart as a teenager in 2015, with his 41 goals and 100 assists contributing toward an all-inclusive trophy haul at club level.
Jose Mourinho has previously described him as an "absolutely phenomenal" player, while his statistics over the past 12 months show that he is among the most technically proficient in the game.
Indeed, as per FBref, the £322k-per-week star ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues for passes attempted, the top 2% for progressive passes, the top 8% for assists and the top 7% for shot-creating actions per 90.
#
Player
Club
1
Casemiro
Manchester United
2
Declan Rice
Arsenal
3
Rodrigo Bentancur
Tottenham Hotspur
4
Moises Caicedo
Chelsea
5
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Tottenham Hotspur
*Sourced via Football Transfers
While Kimmich is not the perfect profile of player for Liverpool, who would usually move for a player earlier into their twenties, he is the "world-class" player – as he has been pronounced by former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge – that would complete the midfield rebuild, even enhancing the current crop.
Imagine Joshua Kimmich & Dominik Szoboszlai
One player who could benefit immensely from Kimmich's signing would be Dominik Szoboszlai, who joined the Reds from RB Leipzig in the summer when his £60m release clause was met.
Playing somewhat deeper than he was used to in Germany, the creative Hungary captain has started 19 of Liverpool's 20 Premier League matches this term, completing 88% of his passes, averaging 1.8 key passes, 1.4 tackles and 6.4 ball recoveries per match, as per Sofascore.
While Kimmich has been described as a "passing master" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, his prowess does not lie solely in this section of his skill set, having also averaged the second-highest number of tackles per game in Bayern's squad this season.
This blend of abilities is something that would bring Szoboszlai to the next level; effectively, think of Kimmich as being a sort of hybrid of Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo.
Szoboszlai has been excellent but there have been several instances of late where perhaps he has regressed from his blistering start to life on English shores, and with a formidable anchor in the centre of the park in Kimmich pulling the strings, he could channel the full scope of his staggering potential.