Wesley Sneijder has warned Liverpool against a move for Jurrien Timber and feels he is not good enough in the air to compete in the .
The 21-year-old has rather suddenly been linked with a move to Anfield after reports in his native Netherlands claimed his girlfriend .
is thought to be keen to bring in a versatile defender this summer as he rebuilds his ailing squad, while Timber is keen to test himself away from the Eredivisie after snubbing a transfer last summer.
But former playmaker Sneijder is not convinced the move would be a good idea for Liverpool due to Timber’s diminutive stature – he is around 1.79metres (or roughly 5ft9).
‘He’s a smart lad and a really good defender,’ said Sneijder on , where the rumour about the potential Liverpool move first emerged.
‘But he loses every header and in England – against those wardrobes in the Premier League – that will be his downfall.’
The same accusation was levied at Lisandro Martinez before he swapped Ajax for Manchester United but he quickly proved his doubters wrong, though Sneijder feels the comparison is not valid in this instance and Timber’s aerial ability is a big weakness.
‘Lisandro Martinez is also small, but he can still jump and rise above players,’ explained Sneijder.
‘I used to see that with [former Real Madrid team-mate] Fabio Cannavaro. He was also small but he won every header.’
Timber has lost more aerial duels than he has won this season – 44 lost and 41 won out of 85 – while his aerial win percentage is a very modest 48%.
Ajax team-mates Edson Alvarez and Calvin Bassey both have considerably better aerial records, while Martinez averaged 3.3 aerial wins per match in his final season in Amsterdam (winning 79 and losing just 33 out of 112 – a 70% success rate).
Were Timber to move to Anfield, he would compete against Ibrahima Konate for a place alongside Netherlands team-mate Virgil van Dijk – who has no issues winning headers – in the heart of the defence.
The youngster is also capable of playing at right-back, however, and may be viewed as cover and competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose only backup at present is the 37-year-old James Milner – whose contract expires at the end of the season.
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