Liverpool Targets Andrea Cambiaso as New Left-Back
Liverpool have started to move on from Andy Robertson. The search for the next great Anfield left-back has led them to Turin – and to Andrea Cambiaso.
Robertson, described as “a club legend” by Liverpool’s own channels last month, will walk away at the end of the season when his contract expires. You don’t quietly replace a player who helped redefine a position for a title-winning side. You plan. You scout. You gamble big on quality.
And Liverpool are now circling one of Serie A’s most complete full-backs.
Liverpool join the chase for Cambiaso
Italian journalist Mirko Di Natale revealed that Liverpool have formally enquired about Cambiaso, the Juventus and Italy international who has become one of the most coveted wide defenders in Europe. The Reds are not alone.
Barcelona, Milan, Inter, Napoli, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have all checked in, according to Di Natale’s update on May 6. When half of Europe’s elite start asking the same question, you know the profile: young enough to grow, polished enough to start tomorrow.
Cambiaso is 26, two-footed, and tactically flexible. He has been on Juventus’ books since 2022 and is tied down until 2029, a contract that puts the power firmly in the Italian club’s hands. That has not stopped the queue forming.
This season he has delivered three goals and four assists in 44 games across all competitions for Juve. Those numbers don’t scream superstar, but they do hint at something modern coaches crave: a defender who can tilt a game in possession and out of it.
Life after Robertson
Liverpool’s left flank is already in transition. Milos Kerkez holds the shirt for now, the Hungary international establishing himself as the current first-choice option. He needs a rival, not a deputy.
Kostas Tsimikas, once billed as Robertson’s long-term understudy, looks to be heading for the exit. Arne Slot sent him on loan to Roma last summer, a clear indication that the new manager does not see him as central to his plans.
So the picture is clear. One legendary left-back leaving. One promising starter in Kerkez. A squad that still expects to challenge on all fronts. And a recruitment department that has identified Cambiaso as a potential cornerstone of Slot’s era.
The Maldini comparison that turned heads
The most striking endorsement of Cambiaso’s talent came from someone who knows exactly what a world-class full-back looks like.
Mauro Tassotti, the AC Milan great and former Genoa assistant, worked with Cambiaso during the 2021/22 season. He came away stunned by the defender’s balance and versatility.
“I was immediately struck by Andrea’s ability to play both left and right. And above all his ability to kick with both feet,” Tassotti told La Gazzetta dello Sport in December 2023. “I haven’t yet understood whether he is right or left-footed.”
Then came the comparison that made people sit up. Tassotti likened Cambiaso, in that ambidextrous ease, to Paolo Maldini. Not the power, not the aura, not yet the defensive dominance – but the rare gift of being genuinely two-footed in elite company.
Tassotti spelled out his ideal role too: a wing-back who can operate as the fifth defender in a 3-5-2 or as a traditional full-back in a back four. For a coach like Slot, who prizes fluidity and rotation across the back line, that profile is gold.
Built for modern systems
Cambiaso’s game fits the modern blueprint. He can hug the touchline as a classic left-back, drive high as a wing-back, or step inside to create overloads in midfield. He is as comfortable receiving on his right as on his left, which lets him cut in or go around the outside without telegraphing his intentions.
That two-footedness does more than look pretty. It speeds up circulation, opens passing lanes, and makes pressing traps harder to set. For a Liverpool side that will again look to dominate territory and tempo, a full-back who “sees things as a midfielder” is a powerful weapon.
“He can play at Liverpool”
Igor Tudor, who has managed both Juventus and Tottenham, sees Cambiaso at the very top of the game. His assessment, made last year, reads like a scouting report written for clubs exactly like Liverpool.
“He can play as a mezzala,” Tudor said, highlighting Cambiaso’s ability to step into central areas. “He has a different kind of mind, in a good way. As a full-back, he sees things as a midfielder. Sometimes he moves inside, and he feels the positions.”
Tudor pushed the ceiling higher still.
“He’s a top-level player. He needs to be more consistent in his performances, and he has to work and grow. It always depends on him. Potentially, he’s a player for the best clubs in the world… He can play at Liverpool, Real Madrid or Manchester City, the top clubs in the world.”
That line will not have gone unnoticed at Anfield. Nor will the caveat: to reach that level, Cambiaso must decide that every Sunday he is “the best”. The mentality test, as much as the tactical fit, will shape any move.
A crowded race for a rare profile
Liverpool’s interest comes in a market where true top-level full-backs are scarce and heavily contested. Clubs are no longer just buying defenders for their side of the pitch; they are buying extra playmakers, extra pressers, extra problem-solvers.
Cambiaso ticks those boxes, which explains why the list of suitors reads like a Champions League quarter-final draw. Barcelona, Milan, Inter, Napoli, City, Tottenham, Liverpool. All see the same thing: a player who can lock down a flank and unlock a structure.
Juventus, armed with a long contract and a player still climbing, hold the strongest hand. Any deal will require serious money and serious persuasion.
For Liverpool, though, this is about more than replacing a legend. It is about defining what the next decade of their left side looks like. Kerkez has the shirt. Cambiaso has the tools. The question now is whether Anfield becomes the stage on which he proves Tudor right – and steps into the company of the very best.
