Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admits he needs to find his own Javer Mascherano after their defensive injury crisis.
With Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip out injured, Klopp has just one recognised first team centre-half – Joe Gomez – at his disposal.
"I know Nat [Phillips] the longest so I was really happy with his development. Since I know him he made big, big steps and is an exceptional character," Klopp said.
"I said it before that the little problem was that we were all convinced, how it looked all the time… there were a lot of clubs interested in him and, in the end, maybe because of the coronavirus crisis, nobody had the money to do it but we expected him to leave the club, to be honest.
"Thank God he didn't, but that's the reason why he is not in the Champions League squad, the only reason.
"He cannot be on the bench in the Champions League but he is available for the Premier League and now I have to make a decision.
"And we have still, obviously, other options like Hendo or Gini or James - or Robbo can play centre-half as well.
"They are all not smaller than Mascherano, for example, and he played pretty well in that position."
