Without exceeding its limited resources, the management of Standard still intends to strengthen Ivan Leko's workforce in January. Two priority positions are targeted, while a usual holder appears on the shelves of other clubs.
To say that, since the start of the season, Standard has struggled with numerous injuries is an understatement. For the reception of La Gantoise on Sunday, Ivan Leko will have to line up a… eighth different central hinge in the absence of Ibe Hautekiet, suspended.
An unbearable situation, which pushes the Croatian coach to align players in their bad position, like Henry Lawrence, whose contract has just been extended, who has been playing for several weeks on the left of the central hinge, rather than on the side, its natural position. An adaptation that Alexandro Calut and Souleyman Doumbia also had to make, at times, on the rare occasions when the latter was available, while the role could fall to the returning Boli Bolingoli against the Buffalos.
Standard is looking for a central defender
In the rest of the core, we know that the Rouches T1 no longer counts on Lucas Noubi, that Daan Dierckx obviously does not (yet?) have the level of the Jupiler Pro League, while the injuries of Nathan Ngoy, who It's not yet close to coming back, repeating itself. It is for this reason that according to our information, Standard is looking for a new central defender who can play on the left side of the 3-man defense, with the objective of completing a loan with an option to 'purchase.
This is not the only position in which Matricule 16 wishes to strengthen itself in January. As we told you about here, the Rouches midfield clearly lacks a creative player, while the non-use of Sotiris Alexandropoulos remains quite difficult to understand. In addition, an element of Standard attracts desire. If his performances on the banks of the Meuse have not been impeccable since the start of the season, Isaac Price is on the shelves of several clubs across the Channel.
A creative environment also sought after by the Rouches
It comes to us in particular that the Glasgow Rangers, as well as a Championship team (English D2) which has remained anonymous, are interested in the situation of the Northern Irish international, estimated at three million euros on the site Transfer marketwhose contract at Sclessin will end in June 2027. It must however be emphasized that this would be, for the two clubs, a simple gathering of information, which does not mean that Isaac Price will be subject to a concrete offer of one of these training courses.
What is certain, however, is that Standard expects to soon lose the 21-year-old player, who arrived freely from Everton in the summer of 2023. It is for this reason that, again according to our sources, the Liège management would also be looking for a creative environment, always with the aim of closing a loan with an option to purchase. A player who, ideally, could also draw set pieces, since Isaac Price, who is responsible for several of them, is potentially on the start and Marko Bulat, who impressed with this quality when he arrived, seems to be there. having lost… like almost all the others, so much so that he no longer plays.
If, at Sclessin, resources are still particularly limited and internal concerns inevitably revolve around the takeover of the club, the thinking heads of Standard still intend to try to strengthen Ivan Leko's squad in January.
