Liverpool are beginning to make some moves in the summer transfer window.
The Reds have been quiet since the end of the season but with the market officially opening on Friday, things are starting to gear up.
First came reports that Liverpool are readying a bid to sign Benfica midfielder Joao Neves. We await further updates on how that pursuit ends up.
Next, and seemingly more concretely, Liverpool have stepped up interest in Leny Yoro of Lille. The Reds do need a new centre-back and Yoro looks like a real talent.
However, Yoro appears more likely to sign for Real Madrid. As a result, Liverpool will need a back-up. And according to Italian journalist Mirko Di Natale, they may just have found one.
Liverpool make approach for Dean Huijsen
Yoro would possibly represent the dream centre-back signing for Arne Slot. At just 18, the Frenchman could command the Liverpool defence for years and years to come.
However, Yoro is not the only teenaged defender to have been excelling in Europe this season.
Dean Huijsen caught the eye for Roma while on-loan from Juventus. At just 19, the Spain U21 international is another big talent.
Jose Mourinho called him ‘one of the highest quality prospects in European football’ [TuttomercatoWeb] while in charge of the capital club and Huijsen has attracted interest from Liverpool.
READ MORE: All Liverpool incomings, outgoings, loans and releases for 2024/25
With the Reds searching for the right centre-back to add to their squad, Di Natale took to X on Friday morning to report that an approach to ‘gather information’ has been made to Juventus.
“Dortmund, Liverpool and Newcastle, in the past few hours, have asked for information again for Dean Huijsen,” said the journalist.
“For the moment, Atalanta has not delved into the situation after the first exploratory contact last weekend.
“Juventus, as already explained previously, would not like to deprive itself of it, but would only do so for an important offer of at least 30 million € [£25].”
Liverpool look for value for money signing
In terms of value for money, you’d have to agree that Huijsen would be more prudent than Yoro.
No mater if the Lille man has a higher ceiling, Huijsen is clearly in a similar class. You don’t play top-flight football in Serie A at 19 if you’re not an impressive player.
At £25m, Huijsen would likely be around half the price of Yoro. As we know, Liverpool like to look for value in the market. This would certainly represent it.
With anxiety growing over the future of Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool need to secure the future of their defence.
Huijsen and Yoro together would be the dream way of doing that, but if the latter is not available, the former will do nicely.