Jurgen Klopp could soon get a close-up look at one player who Liverpool reportedly admire ahead of a possible transfer swoop in 2024.
According to The Mirror, the Reds ‘highly’ rate Marc Guehi, with the Crystal Palace defender likely to be a hot property in the market next year, although the south London club are adamant that they won’t sell the 23-year-old in January.
LFC could step up their search for centre-back recruits following the season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury to Joel Matip, with the same report also citing Wolfsburg’s Maxence Lacroix as a possible target.
If Liverpool are genuinely interested in Guehi, they won’t have to wait long to obtain a firsthand look at the defender, who’s set to be in action against the Reds when they meet Palace at Selhurst Park this Saturday.
Previously dubbed an ‘absolute tank’ by former England under-21 teammate Josef Bursik, who said that playing behind the Eagles centre-back is ‘like having a brick wall in front of you’ (Chelsea Chronicle), the 23-year-old has started all but one of his team’s 15 Premier League games so far this season (Transfermarkt).
His club value him at a lofty £60m, so he certainly wouldn’t come cheap, although he would at least bring a familiarity with the English top flight from nearly 100 appearances in the division (Transfermarkt), along with counting towards the all-important homegrown quota for domestic and European squads.
With Palace highly unlikely to sell in January, Guehi is probably more of a longer-term option to replace Matip if the latter’s Liverpool contract isn’t extended beyond its June expiry, although a strong performance against the Reds tomorrow might just accelerate interest from Anfield.
Klopp and the LFC recruitment team will surely be keeping a particularly close eye on the man in the Eagles’ number 6 shirt this weekend, especially with the transfer market reopening in just over three weeks’ time.