Liverpool are reportedly keeping tabs on a world champion as a prospective long-term defensive recruit at Anfield.
According to 90min, the Reds are monitoring Facundo Gonzalez, who’s on loan at Sampdoria from Juventus and was part of Uruguay’s Under-20 World Cup-winning team last year.
It’s thought that the Merseysiders are looking towards a move for the 20-year-old next year rather than in the January or summer 2024 transfer windows, with LFC targeting an established centre-back (Jonathan Tah has been mooted) and another player in that position with more of an eye to the future.
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2023 was a memorable year for Gonzalez, having been ever-present in his country’s Under-20 World Cup triumph in June and snapped up by Juventus a couple of months later, albeit that the Bianconeri loaned him to Sampdoria almost immediately.
That move has enabled the Uruguayan to take his first steps in senior football as a regular for the Genoa-based club, albeit in Serie B, where he’s made 13 appearances so far (Transfermarkt).
Given his lack of top-level experience, it’s understandable that Liverpool are seemingly biding their time to keep tabs on the 20-year-old as he accrues valuable first-team minutes, rather than taking an out-and-out gamble on him straight away.
It should be interesting to see how Gonzalez develops at Sampdoria for the remainder of this season, and whether he might be loaned out to a Serie A club next term, but his big-game temperament is somewhat proven from his success on the global stage with Uruguay’s under-20s.