Liverpool have reportedly set Nathaniel Phillips’ asking price at £15m, with the centre-half being linked with a swathe of Premier League clubs.
This comes from The Athletic, with James Pearce reporting that Burnley remain a likely potential proposition for the 24-year-old.
Newcastle and Southampton have also made contact with the Reds over the Englishman following a number of impressive performances for Jurgen Klopp’s men deputising in the heart of the backline.
Despite being a reliable fixture of our back four whilst the likes of starters Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip were sidelined with injury, the Bolton-born centre-half faces an uphill battle dislodging all three, not to mention inbound signing Ibrahima Konate.
An argument could be made that Phillips has more than justified being favoured as our third-choice centre-back behind Van Dijk and Gomez, though, as Pearce acknowledges, he’s likely to want more regular minutes than he’ll be handed next term.
It would be a shame to see the club lose a valuable squad player, but the reality is that £15m would cover already a considerable proportion of the £60m amount we’re reportedly hoping to raise in player sales.
That being said, it would raise certain questions over depth in the centre of defence, with the likes of Rhys Williams and an unused Ben Davies lying in wait beyond our main options.
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Nat is a decent pro who did his best in difficult circumstances. However look at the sides interested in him none of those have Premier League or Champions League ambitions. Nat is just too slow and limited passing ability to command more than the odd outing, if that. Jurgen adjusted our style to accommodate him but with strong, fast and skillful centre backs available to him Jürgen’s counter pressing and lightning fast counters will return. You just can’t play that style with a willing but slow centre back.