Liverpool could really do with signing a center-back this summer, even if it remains to be seen where the value in the market will be. Leny Yoro would be the ideal capture, but he appears to have his heart set on a move to Real Madrid .
But with Ibrahima Konate's injury record patchy and Joe Gomez having been deployed at full-back for most of last season, Liverpool needs another option at the back to ensure that Arne Slot isn't left short of players. Jarell Quansah made huge strides forward last year, but he is still only 21 and cannot be overplayed.
Links with Marc Guehii — inevitable after he had a good tournament for England at Euro 2024 — have not gone away. But while TeamTalk has suggested that Slot has given the "green light" to make that deal happen, the ECHO reports that there is no truth in such a claim. The Reds have no interest in the 24-year-old.
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Whether Liverpool signs Guehi or someone else entirely, changes in the defense that Slot has inherited are required. Virgil van Dijk is 33 now and the ideal situation would see him rotated more to prolong his career. Having two more Champions League matches in 2024/25 means that there will be more high-level soccer than ever before.
While his minutes will not drop dramatically, Van Dijk should be taken out of the team more often. And that means that even if the Reds were to bring in a left-sided option, that player would get time on the pitch when covering for the Dutchman — or if the Liverpool captain was to move across to the right. That would be possible, of course, but it hasn't been something that has happened before at Anfield .
If Liverpool was to buy a predominantly right-sided defender, that could have a knock-on impact for the others in that position. Konate, Quansah and Gomez can all play there (and indeed prefer to do so) which might make getting someone for that slot slightly less likely.
Perhaps a compromise could be that Liverpool signs a very highly-rated young player who could come in and be more patient with their minutes — Yoro, for instance, would fit that bill — or it could be that someone who can play a bit of left-back arrives so that there are multiple avenues to senior action.
In that case, though, Liverpool already has Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas , while Gomez is also very adept at playing there. The Reds are not short of options across the full-back positions on their roster, so that isn't a perfect solution either.
That perhaps explains why there has so far been a willingness to assess the transfer market rather than dive in and get someone through the door. Liverpool has just about enough bodies; the question is whether there is one more who can really make Slot secure in terms of having enough depth.
A left-sided option would make more sense than a right-sided one, on balance, but getting the right player is tricky. They need to have a ceiling high enough to one day replace Van Dijk while simultaneously being willing to play second fiddle to him for now.
As a result, while signing a defender this summer is an important piece of business for Liverpool to get done, there is no obvious fix. It will be up to new sporting director Richard Hughes to identify the right solution.
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