Glen Johnson believes the potential signing of Jurrien Timber would be a ‘bloody good start’ for Liverpool this summer.
90min have reported recently that the 21-year-old is ‘of interest’ to Jurgen Klopp’s side as he continues to be linked with a move away from Ajax at the end of the season.
The player himself, who is a teammate of Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo for the Dutch national side, has admitted that a move away from Amsterdam is ‘getting closer and closer’ and that he’s excited by the prospect of plying his trade in a new league.
“Virgil obviously knows him better than I do but he has 15 caps for Holland, so he clearly has a lot about him,” Johnson told Betfred (as quoted by Football365). “If you’ve got the two Holland international team’s centre-backs as your defensive pairing at club level, then usually that’s a bloody good start.
“To play as many times as he has for his country at his age and for Virgil to speak so highly of him, then he’s clearly a very good player.”
Although Jurgen Klopp’s priority this summer is to reinforce his midfield options we certainly wouldn’t be against the signing of a young and talented central defender – a player that our No. 4 has labelled as a ‘great player’ with ‘so much potential’ (Daily Mail).
Timber has played 44 games for the Eredivisie outfit this term (across all competitions), including both clashes against Liverpool in the Champions League group stages, but it’s looking likely that this will be his last campaign at his boyhood club.
The Dutchman is under contract at the Johan Cruyff Arena until the summer of 2025 meaning it could potentially take a sizeable fee to bring him to Anfield but with him showing extreme potential at such a tender age it is a move that would certainly make sense.
Virgil van Dijk and Ibou Konate appear to be Klopp’s preferred pairing at central defence this term but with Joel Matip approaching the final 12 months of current deal and Joe Gomez struggling for regular game time on Merseyside it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a new defender brought to L4 ahead of next season.
The Ajax No. 2 will be excited by the prospect of a move to the Premier League and linking up with his compatriots van Dijk and Gakpo at club level.