Who is Liverpool's mystery target? Arne Slot should sign $82m superstar Jurgen Klopp 'rejected'

Liverpool is yet to make a signing this summer but the expectation is that will change before August 30. On the penultimate day of the month, the transfer window around Europe will slam shut.

Earlier in the week, it was reported by The Athletic that Liverpool has not only identified a defensive midfielder as a major priority for the next three weeks or so but has also pinpointed a player in that position to target. Supposedly, someone - currently playing outside of the Premier Le ague - has been selected, though their identity remains a mystery.

FC Porto's Alan Varela and Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi are just two names that have flown around since that update emerged as people desperately try to guess who it might be. Another player, though, should be in the conversation given the changes that it appears Arne Slot is implementing at Anfield.

READ MORE: Arne Slot told he already has next Philippe Coutinho as Liverpool faces transfer decision
READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Alan Varela move, Martin Zubimendi clause, Anthony Gordon latest

In the past, links to Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong , signed for $82m (£65m/€75m) from Ajax in 2019, have gone nowhere. The Dutchman himself has never been too keen to leave the Camp Nou side and that might well still be the case - but profile-wise, he could be ideal.

The early evidence that Liverpool has displayed in pre-season so far is that Slot wants Liverpool to be daring when building out from the back, enticing the opposition into a press. The Reds will be playing out from the back much more patiently and trying to tempt their opposite numbers into breaking their shape - think Brighton at its peak under Roberto de Zerbi.

Curtis Jones summed it up nicely during the pre-season trip to the USA . " I feel this is more me," he outlined during a press conference. "I can get on the ball more. I'm excited."

"We need to be comfortable on the ball and be calm in our build-up as a team," Jones continued. "We're not in a rush to attack. We need to break teams down and when we give the ball away we can press. In the past, it was a rush to get the ball back, a bit too direct, up and down, up and down. Now we want to have all the ball and completely kill a team."

Alongside Mac Allister in something closer to a midfield double pivot, De Jong would offer the quality in possession required to get Liverpool up the pitch. He can glide past defenders and has the skillset to be the archetypal number six in the progressive mold. He hasn't always shown that at Barcelona but there is a world-class player there to be unlocked.

Liverpool was linked extensively with De Jong in 2022. According to a report from Futbol Total at the time, the Reds were "ready" to offer an initial transfer fee of $69m (£54m/€63m) for his services, plus $8.8m (£6.9m/€8.0m) in add-ons . That was shortly after Manchester United had a bid worth slightly more accepted but that fell through and other similar claims in Spain emerged.

Closer to home, Tim Sherwood claimed to "know" that De Jong was offered to Liverpool in 2019. "There were a couple of players that were offered to Klopp," he told talkSPORT . The pundit claimed that it was a choice between De Jong and Fabinho and Klopp went with the latter because of his more aggressive manner of playing the role.

Now, though, regardless of whether there is any truth in that whatsoever, with Liverpool playing a slightly different style and needing a player more in the silky style, a move for De Jong would make considerably more sense. Ex-Feyenoord player Kaj Ramsteijn suggested it almost as soon as Slot was announced at Anfield, telling Voetbal Primeu : "Take De Jong with you! I would think that would be a nice club for him. I think Frenkie is so good that I really want to see him play for trophies."

The actual identity of the midfielder Liverpool has supposedly identified is yet to become clear, though it should do sooner rather than later. In De Jong, though, there is a good example of the kind of player that it should be. As Slot moves the Reds towards what Tyler Morton termed Total Football earlier this week, signing an Ajax graduate schooled at Barcelona would be the ideal transfer.