is coming to the end of his time at Liverpool and the Reds may have a surprise candidate to replace him.
The Scotsman’s future was made very clear by the way the club acted in the January transfer market.
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Liverpool were prepared to sell Robertson to Tottenham. It was only with injuries mounting and the club being unable to recall Kostas Tsimikas, the decision was made to not go through with the transfer.
Probably much to Robertson’s relief. Who would want to join Tottenham right now?
If Liverpool had intended to extend Robertson’s contract, they would have never entertained a sale. He now has less than six months on his deal and it looks inevitable that he will be moving on as a free agent.
There will be plenty of suitors for someone with his experience and pedigree and he will probably have a better option than Tottenha.
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Atletico Madrid have also expressed interest in Robertson in the past. There’s also always the possibility of him returning to Celtic.
For Liverpool, it will be a headache to replace him. The chances are is that Tsimikas will also be sold. There is just no long-term future for him at the club.
But if Tsimikas goes, Liverpool will have just one left-back remaining in Milos Kerkez. Someone will need to come in and replace Robertson as a back-up.
To do this, Liverpool could enter the market or they could turn to one of their forgotten stars from the academy and make a surprise but shrewd choice.
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Luke Chambers has been struggling with a few injuries over the last year or so, which is a shame because he was making a real breakthrough prior to Arne Slot’s arrival in the Liverpool first-team.
Chambers played three games in the Europa League under Jurgen Klopp and then enjoyed a successful loan spell with Wigan Athletic in League One.
At the time, Chambers was even linked with a move to Bayer Leverkusen, who were managed by Xabi Alonso back then.
Since Slot’s been in charge, Chambers hasn’t really had the opportunity to make his mark but he was sent out on loan to Charlton Athletic in the January window, where he has got his career back on track.
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Chambers has immediately slotted into the club’s starting line-up and has started nine of 10 possible matches so far, playing well in almost all of them.
In his second game, Chambers managed to get an assist and produced a brilliant defensive performance winning seven of his 11 defensive duels against Leicester City.
Coming up against a tough side in Leicester, who were in the Premier League only last season, Chambers was brilliant with his energy and his discipline in one vs one situations.
Overall, he is is winning 61.4% of his 7.6 defensive duels per 90 minutes, which is a really solid return. He’s proven to be an extremely valuable player in the build-up for Charlton, constantly looking to play the ball forward.
© IMAGO – Luke Chambers Liverpool
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At 21-years-old, he’s still really young and his profile is ideal to have as a back-up because he offers something different to Kerkez but also because he is very versatile.
In his professional career so far Chambers has already been used in a number of roles.
He can play as a wing-back, left-back and even as a centre-back.
Crucially, he’s also played in a back four and a back three, including both as a centre-back and as a full-back.
Given Liverpool will have a shortage of homegrown options next season, Chambers could be the perfect solution to add to the squad and have him replace Robertson as Kerkez’s deputy.
It may come as a surprise to many, but this will be the smart call.