Exclusive: Liverpool make decision over January centre-back signing as Marc Guehi boost emerges
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Exclusive with Graeme Bailey.
Liverpool will look into the possibility of signing a centre-back during the January transfer window, Rousing The Kop has been told.
The Reds were keen to buy two central defenders during the summer market, with Giovanni Leoni and Marc Guehi identified as top targets.
Liverpool brought Leoni in from Parma, but a last-minute change of heart saw Guehi‘s move blocked by Crystal Palace.
Liverpool were happy to go through the season with only Leoni added to Arne Slot’s squad, but an ACL tear has since ruled the 18-year-old out for the season.
As a result, RTK understands that the Reds are now looking into the possibility of bringing a new signing to Anfield in the January window.
A move for Guehi has not been totally ruled out, but Liverpool are aware of, and beginning to explore, other options as well.
Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images
Liverpool had clearly not anticipated a need to add another centre-half before the end of the season, and were not understood to be planning a January approach for Guehi.
However, Leoni’s injury means a winter move is being considered at Anfield, although much will depend on the asking price from Crystal Palace.
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Palace chairman Steve Parish is still understood to be keen to recoup a fee for Guehi, and RTK have been told that the Eagles may only sell for £20-25m.
For Liverpool, that is likely to be too high a fee for a player who can be signed for nothing six months later.
Nevertheless, it is understood that the Reds have not ruled this out completely.
They know Guehi has plenty of other suitors, and are weighing up whether paying the money to see off these competitors in January could be worth it.
In that respect, the option of a mid-season move is being seen as a potential boost by some inside Liverpool, with other clubs such as Bayern Munich and Barcelona only willing to wait until the end of the campaign.
Although he remains their first choice target, Guehi is not the only player Liverpool could look to sign in January.
Dayot Upamecano is in an identical situation to the Crystal Palace captain at Bayern Munich, and Liverpool could look at the Frenchman depending on the fee demanded and the state of their centre-back options at the time.
As RTK exclusively revealed last week, Liverpool are monitoring Upamecano, and while a summer move is more likely, a January approach cannot be ruled out.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are aware of other potential targets.
Toulouse’s Charlie Creswell is one player they have scouted and is someone who could be on the radar again should they choose to wait for Guehi and/or Upamecano.