Liverpool transfers assessed - midfielders who could become Andoni Iraola's Fabinho

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In terms of publicly-available stats, it's easy to look at chance creation in isolation - but that's not always what you want from a deep-lying player.In fact, in most cases, you're going to be looking for a tempo-setter who progresses the ball effectively rather than constantly looking to play Hollywood passes.Liverpool should be looking for the former, given Wirtz is in the team to provide the sparkle and the Reds' pursuit of wingers is likely to be focused on providing chances for Alexander Isak.Even so, a player that can combine both - a cool head to play the right pass and keep the opposition on the back foot, coupled with a tendency to play a defence-splitting ball in the right moments - would be a valuable commodity indeed.Honourable mentionsAurelien Tchouameni (26) is probably the premier candidate for this role, but prising the France international away from Real Madrid looks increasingly unlikely.Despite the reputational damage to the club that his fracas with Federico Valverde caused, Los Blancos look set to double down on Tchouameni, viewing him as a future leader, according to Madrid-based journalist Ivan Martin in OKDiario.Of course, that could change, with Martin acknowledging that Tchouameni's future could still change if incoming manager Jose Mourinho decides the Frenchman isn't for him - in which case, Liverpool would be wise to consider returning to the table for the player they previously tried to sign before his move to the Spanish capital.For now, though, this just looks too difficult to pull off.Pablo Barrios (22) is a highly-promising midfielder at Atletico Madrid, ranking highly for interceptions, recoveries and duels while also serving as a capable ball-carrier and composed passer of the ball, but has a worrying record of muscle injuries that would make his signing too risky for the RedsA potential solution in terms of leadership could have been Sporting captain Morten Hjulmand (26), whose physicality and all-round quality make him one of the best midfielders in the Portuguese top flight. Firstly and most obviously, I've picked players who have recently been linked with Liverpool ahead of the summer, who make up seven of the 10 by themselves: Adam Wharton, Lamine Camara, Mamadou Sangare, Mateus Fernandes, Alan Varela, Alex Scott and Angelo Stiller.Any links that were obviously bogus or exclusively broken by an outlet with a poor record for reliability were ignored, especially where these links don't appear to have any connection to the country where a player is currently operating.Elliot Anderson was an obvious inclusion, being the talk of the Premier League, despite no real substantive links connecting him to Liverpool - but with the Nottingham Forest midfielder a standout player this season and representing a homegrown solution, logic dictates the club's scouting department will have taken a look at him.Khephren Thuram and Sandro Tonali, meanwhile, have been linked with the Reds in previous summers - and both could be available and/or seeking a move this summer, if reports are to be believed.All of these players are within the sweet spot in terms of age and experience, so to speak - ranging from 21 to 26, each of the 10 featured should be able to physically compete in the Premier League while still having plenty left in the tank to (hopefully) play for Liverpool for the next few years.Tonali is towards the upper end of this, to be honest, having racked up more than 300 appearances at club level but - with no disrespect to Serie A - made the majority of these in a lower-intensity league than the Premier League.With only 108 senior appearances, Camara is definitely on the more inexperienced side, but Liverpool have recently shown with the acquisitions of Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni that they're more than prepared to make what might be seen as riskier moves in terms of sample size if a player stands out enough in the data.PassingLiverpool's recruitment team will, of course, have access to more detailed data than what is available publicly to make more informed decisions, but we can draw some conclusions from the stats here.For overall passing range, Sangare and Fernandes impress, whereas for chance creation Wharton, Camara and Stiller are the standouts.Wharton's impressive 0.49 big chances created per 90 is matched by his xA (expected assists) of 0.26 per 90, underlining the threat of his passing from deep for Crystal Palace last season.Stiller's passing offers the most control, with his 88.1% success rate the highest in this list, but - Wharton aside, who takes more risks - the variation is not particularly large among this crop of players.Fernandes, Sangare and Scott offer the least directly creative threat between them in terms of key passes, while Tonali's 0.1 xA per 90 is also underwhelming for a player of his ability.One way to see how effective these players are in their passing game is to compare big chances created per 90 with overall passing accuracy.In theory, a player who creates more big chances should be expected to have a lower pass completion rate than one who passes more conservatively, as this typically means a player who takes lots of risks in possession.This scatter graph shows that relationship.

Though he is a popular candidate among supporters, this is a significant mark against Wharton - at least from my perspective.Stiller and Camara, on the other hand, would offer incisive passing without sacrificing the control required from the profile I've defined.PossessionIn a Premier League where man-to-man pressing has become increasingly important, midfielders need to be capable of moving the ball on quickly or otherwise using their physique and technical ability to escape pressure.They also need to arrive on time in duels, especially in an Iraola system where this trait will be vital to keeping the pressure on opponents.Wharton again struggles in duels compared to his peers in this list, casting more doubt over his ability to succeed in the new system, whereas Anderson and Sangare stand out when accounting for aerial duels too.Stiller is strong at winning duels on the ground, and his 92.33 touches per 90 suggest he's more than comfortable holding the fort and dictating moves, with the same applying to Anderson.I haven't looked at dribbling here, because - again - it's not really part of the profile I'm interested in seeing Liverpool sign. Call me old fashioned, but I need my deep-lying midfielder to prioritise the traits the Reds' other central players don't currently possess.Gravenberch at his best is the platonic ideal of a press-resistant midfielder, and combines this with the dribbling ability and power to carry the ball up the pitch - the aspects we're not especially looking for here.Players such as Thuram do offer this as well, which is fine, but if opting for a player like him it would require Liverpool's other deep midfielder to ease off at times, alternating with his teammate.If trying to fit Wirtz into the midfield, having a Thuram-type next to him would almost certainly require Szoboszlai to play more conservatively, which is not something most supporters will want to see next season.Paying close attention to how often a player is dispossessed is important when looking for a pivot player who ideally should be caught in possession as little as possible, so in this graph we're looking at how many touches a player makes before being dispossessed during a game.This graph works essentially the opposite way to the previous one.

Varela's dispossessed per 90 numbers look really impressive by themselves, but the graph shows how - when scaled up - he's actually performing on a closer level to Thuram and Tonali rather than Stiller, who's really looking good so far.Anderson, despite his dominance in duels and similar level of involvement in possession to Stiller, loses the ball far more than anyone else on this shortlist.It's worth pointing out he's far from just a sitter at Forest, though, and winning 2.16 fouls per 90 not only shows opponents have identified him as a player to be stopped but also that he has the capacity to use his body to his advantage.DefendingFor some, this might not be the absolute priority, but it should be. Stiller of Stuttgart is an outlier in every metric we've zoomed in on, offering stability and control along with defensive efficiency.The German is said to have a €36.5m release clause valid from this summer, but Stuttgart will look to buy that out for the relatively small fee of €2million and then hold out for closer to €50mEither way, in a market where Elliot Anderson is expected to bring Nottingham Forest over £100m, Stiller would represent great value for Liverpool.Anderson himself would be a tremendous signing with his energy and line-breaking passes, but would arguably be wasted in the deepest role in midfield and it seems unlikely that sporting director Hughes would be prepared to enter such a costly bidding war with Manchester City.The player he is most often compared to, Wharton, clearly possesses impressive vision, creativity and defensive work rate but could struggle in a system where he is required to be more disciplined with his forward passing and strong in his duels.Camara would offer more creativity from deep, much like Stiller, while rarely losing the ball and offering a front-footed bite that looks like it would suit Liverpool well.At the less expansive end of the spectrum, Scott would be a solid if unspectacular operator in the position with plenty of room to grow and the added benefit of having previously worked with the new Liverpool head coach.Fernandes would be a suitable alternative, possibly for a cheaper fee given his relegation with West Ham United last season.Bearing the homegrown quota in mind, as well as the familiarity with Iraola's system, I'd be tempted to lean towards Scott - but Stiller is a bargain and the most complete and Camara, at 22, is probably the most exciting option in terms of his level already and how much further he could improve.Whatever Liverpool choose to do with the midfield department, it seems unlikely we'll hear too much about it until later in the summer - barring any early moves for Jones or Mac Allister.It may already be Liverpool's best-stocked area of the pitch - but could one of these players be the transformational signing to unlock Iraola's midfield?