Liverpool are reportedly close to signing two new central defenders as the Reds aim to get a productive start to the season in January. They were the Premier League’s biggest summer spenders and are likely to maintain their recruitment efforts over the coming weeks. Arne Slot wants things to go smoothly to give new players maximum time to get acclimated.
The reigning Premier League champions have made reinforcements at the back a top priority, with Giovanni Leoni suffering a long-term injury and Ibrahima Konate nearing the end of his contract. They are also looking to the future and have reportedly agreed to sign a teenage defender with huge development potential.
Austrian side Vienna centre-back Ifeanyi Ndukwe is set to join Liverpool after terms have been agreed at club level, according to Fabrizio Romano. He is expected to complete his move to Anfield in the summer and is seen by Reds bosses as a “huge talent”.
Ndukwe, who will celebrate his 18th birthday in March, has attracted a lot of attention for his impressive performances at club and international level. He has already represented Austria at the World Cup in November for the under-17s.
The youngster has been given the green light to join Liverpool and is expected to start for the Under-21s with a view to playing for the first team in the future.
But Ndukwe is not the only central defender the Reds are trying to sign, with Joel Ordonez also close to a big-money move from Club Brugge.
According to ESPN, Liverpool are willing to shell out £43m for the signing and a deal is “close”. The structure of the proposal includes an initial fee of £35m, plus a further £8m in performance-related bonuses.
Club Brugge have reportedly decided to sell Ordonez, who represents Ecuador at international level, before his contract expires in January. He was close to joining Marseille in the summer, but the Belgian club decided to prevent the deal from happening.
Liverpool are said to have been tracking the 21-year-old for several months, with Anfield bosses convinced he is the right player to strengthen their defence.
That’s despite Slott recently suggesting he won’t sanction a big-money transfer in January, similar to his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, who famously broke the rules to sign Virgil van Dijk.
The Liverpool manager said earlier this week: “First of all for myself, but of course the injury to Giovanni Leoni has had a huge impact.
“Even if you have four centre-backs during the season, two right-backs, two left-backs and Wata (Wataru Endo) and Ryan (Gravenbirch) are helping you out, if you injure your anterior cruciate ligament, that doesn’t really help you. It’s tough.
“This is how we work at Liverpool. The outside world wants to believe we have infinite money, but that’s not true.
“You insiders know, and only you know, because the outside world only talks about our spending, what we bring in to spend (money). That’s how we work here.
“In certain games during the season we have to accept that we are short on right-backs. But we can still win. By the way, I fully believe in that way of working.”
