Who is Martin Terrier? The Rennes goal machine to kickstart Liverpool's league campaign
It has been a difficult start to the season for Liverpool. After their opening eight league games, they find themselves 10th with 10 points to their name, having only won two games. In their last outing in the league, they lost out in a drama filled encounter against top side Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium, who they now find themselves 14 points behind.
On top of all of that, the Merseyside club have been hit with several injuries throughout the season, including most recently their current top goalscorer in the league, Luiz Diaz. It also hasn’t been the greatest of starts for their new striker Darwin Nunez, who only has two league goals to his name, and has missed three games owing to a straight red card received in the meeting with Crystal Palace. This is in comparison to their title rivals of the last few years, Manchester City, whose new striker, Erling Haaland, has scored 15 goals in his nine appearances and is breaking several records on the way.
Jurgen Klopp has stated that his side are out of contention for the league already, but with a winter World Cup on the horizon, anything can happen, and the January transfer window may be the perfect opportunity for them to kick start their season.
One name, who they were linked with throughout the summer transfer window and could make a move for in January to bolster their attack, is Rennes winger Martin Terrier. The 25-year-old was consistently being mentioned as an option for Liverpool throughout the summer and considering his consistency in the WhoScored ratings, including making the Ligue 1 Team of the Month for September with a rating of 7.65, it is easy to see why they may make a move come January.
Terrier, although a player who is usually deployed on the left, can play as the main centre forward and has in fact played there for Rennes four times this season, scoring three times. This versatility is a common feature with Klopp’s attacking signings in the past, who generally can play anywhere across the frontline. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Luiz Diaz, Darwin Nunez and even Diogo Jota are all examples of players who match this profile of player. Terrier too would not only match this profile of versatile attacker, but also would offer the same quality as so many of these Klopp signings have in the past.
One of his main WhoScored qualities is his defensive contribution. Since the start of last season, he ranks 16th for possession won in the attacking third (28) in Ligue 1, something that will particularly appeal to Klopp, who often likes to play a high press that forces the opposition into making mistakes or conceding possession by going long. Diaz, for example, in only 21 league appearances, has won possession in the attacking third 18 times. If he is to be out for a number of weeks, adding Terrier to the team in January would make a lot of sense to maintain their game plan.
Another attribute Klopp looks for in his wingers is the ability to cut inside. Not only is this tagged as one of his attributes in his style of play by WhoScored, but is proven in his goals. Since the start of last season in Ligue 1, he has scored 26 times, with 19 of those coming with his right foot. As someone who is often deployed on the left wing, this highlights how often he does in fact cut inside to take shots. His dribble success rate in the same period isn’t the best (45.3%), but this from 75 attempted dribbles, and so emphasises he is someone who prefers to cut inside and get a shot away, rather than worrying about beating his man.
Though he is yet to make a senior appearance for his national team, France, he did make the provisional squad for the recent Nations League fixtures. Looking at the depth of the French attack, it would, I’m sure, be understandable to him why he didn’t make the final squad and why he is yet to earn that first cap, but that provisional squad callup does underline that he is getting noticed. He has however represented his country at youth level, where his numbers were as good as they are now, scoring one in four for the U20’s and seven in seven for the U21’s.
Terrier, who was included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year last season, has continued to grow and even at 25, he has potential to become better. Diaz may return for Liverpool before the new year, but fitness of himself and other players, especially of those going to the World Cup, may come into question in January. With Terrier potentially not going to Qatar and with Liverpool potentially still playing catch up by January, signing the Rennes star man may just be the boost Klopp and his side need to make this year a success.
