Liverpool are ‘closing in’ on Aissa Mandi of Real Betis, the Star claim today.
The report, written by Callum Vurley, says a £9m transfer is fairly imminent for the 28-year-old Algerian centre-back.
Mandi will likely come in as Dejan Lovren’s direct replacement, with the Croat departing for Zenit in Russia for £10.8m last week.
Mandi can also play at right-back, so provides cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold as well – although we’d presume Neco Williams will still be the first-choice rotation option for this position.
The potential new signing will have a real fight on his hands for minutes, of course, with Joe Gomez the current first-choice partner of Virgil Van Dijk – and Joel Matip a more than capable understudy.
Mandi might have to wait until the EFL Cup to make a debut, with Klopp often fielding his bench players in the domestic cup competitions.
For now though, no bid has been accepted and we’ll wait to see if the Star’s report has legs. It’s not the kind of exciting signing many would hope for from the Premier League champions, especially after we didn’t buy anyone of particular note last summer either, but it might turn out to be a smart one.