Liverpool reportedly identify 21-year-old EPL tackling machine as Can replacement in the summer

Anfield

As per Rush The Kop, Liverpool United could make a swoop on tough-tackling Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi by summer as reinforcement in the department is likely to be a priority.

Germany international Emre Can is set to leave Anfield at the end of the season, leaving the Reds with the need for a direct defensive midfield replacement.

Since completing a £17million switch from Belgian outfit Genk to Leicester last winter, Ndidi has been in fine form, hitting the ground running and proving to be the perfect N’golo Kante replacement for the former Premier League champions.

The 21-year-old Nigeria international is the proper defensive midfielder as they come, with his 109 successful tackles the most of any player in the topflight thus far this season.

Ndidi hasn’t only excelled in the anchor midfield role for the Foxes, he has also proven his technicality on the ball, completing the most passes (1312) of the club’s current players, while also topping the charts for most aerial duels won.

The Nigerian could help combine perfectly with the incoming Naby Keita to devastating effect for Liverpool, and the duo can help recreate the missing midfield tenacity the duo of Javier Mascherano and Steven Gerrard once brought to the Reds midfield.