Giovanni Leoni\u2019s injury has left Liverpool light at centre back and forced a reassessment of January priorities. The club now has three senior central defenders: Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 and Joe Gomez. Andy Robertson, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch remain possible emergency options, but Arne Slot will require defensive reinforcements if Liverpool are to carry on competing on all fronts this season.<\/p>\n
Marc Gu\u00e9hi: The Crystal Palace captain was Liverpool\u2019s near signing in the summer, reportedly completing a medical and even recording a farewell video for Palace. Palace\u2019s inability to find an adequate replacement halted the move, but with Gu\u00e9hi out of contract next summer a January return looks likely. A cut-price deal could be achievable.<\/p>\n
Ronald Ara\u00fajo: Barcelona\u2019s long-term future for the 26-year-old has been questioned. Ara\u00fajo signed a new contract with Bar\u00e7a in January that included a \u00a354 million release clause. The Athletic have reported that he would be tempted to leave for a \u201ctop Premier League side.\u201d He would provide an immediate, elite option for Liverpool.<\/p>\n
Gon\u00e7ao In\u00e1cio: The Sporting CP defender has been central to Sporting\u2019s resurgence and has 17 caps for Portugal. The 24-year-old is left-footed, physically strong and reads the game well. He also offers a threat from set pieces, having scored four or more goals in each of his last four full seasons for Sporting.<\/p>\n
Joel Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez: The 21-year-old Ecuador international has established himself at Club Brugge, making 88 appearances and playing a key role in their recent Champions League run. He offers impressive passing range and defensive contributions, though whether he is ready for Liverpool\u2019s demands is a question.<\/p>\n
Murillo: Since arriving at Nottingham Forest in 2023 he has made 36 and then 39 appearances, forming an important partnership with Nikola Milenkovi\u0107. Murillo impressed with anticipation, physicality and ball-playing ability and has been linked with Chelsea, with a reported \u00a370 million price tag.<\/p>\n
Castello Lukeba: The 22-year-old moved from Lyon to RB Leipzig in 2023 and has developed into a powerful, speedy defender noted for distribution and left-footedness. His contract reportedly includes a \u00a378 million release clause, though Leipzig might allow a departure for less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Giovanni Leoni Leoni’s injury leaves Liverpool with three senior centre backs; six transfer options listed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,969],"tags":[299,1047,1077],"class_list":["post-3092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liverpool","category-premier-league","tag-arne-slot","tag-champions-league","tag-contract-renewal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}