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Would Elliott Anderson Be the Ideal January Catch-Up?

Liverpool’s season has drifted into something uncomfortable, something unstructured, and something entirely avoidable. A horrific opening spell, littered with mystifying collapses and a startling lack of control, has left last season’s Premier League champions resembling anything but a coherent elite side. For a club that spent close to £450 million in the summer window, the idea that this squad remains full of glaring structural holes is staggering, and entirely self-inflicted by a summer that resembled more video game than anything else.

Liverpool built depth where they didn’t need it, spent heavily on attackers without addressing a decaying midfield core, and once again tried to bluff their way through a season without a genuine defensive midfielder. Unsurprisingly, the Premier League has exposed them mercilessly and life without their departed playmaking fullback, Trent Alexander-Arnold, is far from elite.

With January approaching, the question is simple: Is Elliott Anderson the one who can help drag this structure back into place?

The Missing Ingredient in Liverpool’s Engine Room

When Martín Zubimendi was identified in 2024 as Liverpool’s ideal No. 6, it felt like the club finally understood the gravity of its midfield fragility, after failing in 2023 to land Moisés Caicedo. Instead, Arsenal secured the Spanish international a year later and now enjoys the benefits: controlled possession, immaculate positioning, elite lane-blocking, and a constant outlet for his centre-backs. His seamless integration at the Emirates only highlights Liverpool’s mistake and it appears to be a costly one.

That error has been magnified this season. The current midfield profile is wildly imbalanced — too technical and not physical enough; too neat and not disruptive. Dominik Szoboszlai may be a powerhouse, Alexis Mac Allister is an exceptional technician, and Ryan Gravenberch has the tools, but none of them are natural stabilisers who can specialise in the deepest role. None naturally protects the back line or creates a back three in transition, as Fabinho did with the centre halves splitting. None naturally dictate defensive transitions and it’s making the summer process look very foolish.

Liverpool needs a midfielder with ferocity, athletic presence, defensive bite, and the intelligence to operate as both breaker and carrier. A player who changes the temperature in the middle of the pitch.

That is where Elliott Anderson becomes the most intriguing, and perhaps overdue, solution.

At Nottingham Forest, Anderson has evolved into a relentless two-way midfielder. He presses with conviction, snaps into duels, shields his defence with physicality, and carries the ball under pressure. He is, quite simply, the profile Liverpool have lacked since Fabinho’s sharp decline. He also fits the Michael Edwards mould: young, ascending, tactically flexible, and built for long-term development.

And unlike Carlos Baleba or Adam Wharton, Anderson brings a Premier League adaptation curve that is already complete. He is plug-and-play ready and could be transformative if recruited.

Will Michael Edwards Move in January?

Ordinarily, the club’s long-term planning model would lean towards summer rebuilding. But this situation is not ordinary and verging on drastic. Poor results have reopened wounds from the previous regime, pressure has built on both Arne Slot and the recruitment team, and the squad’s imbalance can no longer be ignored.

Edwards will know this: he cannot go into the second half of the season without correcting the midfield’s structural weakness. And Nottingham Forest’s situation, already bruised by FFP penalties and unlikely to reach Europe, makes them one of the Premier League’s most vulnerable selling clubs, whether they like it or not.

Anderson would not be cheap. Liverpool may be facing a fee north of £70 million, but that is the price of control, stability, maturity, and transformation in a single signing.

If there is one player capable of injecting hope into a shaken fanbase and breathing new life into this malfunctioning machine, it is England’s emerging No. 6 — Elliott Anderson, the midfielder Liverpool should never have overlooked in the first place.

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