With Mohamed Salah’s contract renewal now confirmed and Virgil van Dijk reportedly set to follow suit, Huijsen’s Liverpool transfer talk has started to heat up.

The club appears to be wasting no time as they begin to lay the groundwork for a busy summer, with the next priority seemingly being the addition of a promising new centre-back.

According to The Athletic’s highly reliable David Ornstein, Liverpool are showing “firm interest” in Bournemouth’s 19-year-old Spanish defender Dean Huijsen.

In a fresh update, Ornstein states that earlier reports were “accurate,” adding that Liverpool are one of “three leading contenders” vying for his signature, alongside Chelsea and Arsenal.

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The young centre-back, who’s already turning heads in the Premier League, has a £50 million release clause in his Bournemouth contract.

That is something Liverpool may look to use to their advantage, as they’ve done in the past.

“We’ve seen Liverpool capitalise on [release clauses] in the past.”

Ornstein notes, referencing deals for Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Ibrahima Konate, all of whom were brought in through similar mechanisms.

Read more: Who can replace Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool

The Huijsen Liverpool links come when several Premier League clubs are in the mix.

Ornstein reports that Newcastle and Tottenham, along with the previously mentioned trio, “have all held meetings or conversations with Huijsen’s camp in the past week.”

While Real Madrid are said to “do like” Huijsen, Ornstein suggests “it looks most probable he will join another Premier League club.”

Adding to the urgency, he mentions:

“I think there’s a desire on the part of Bournemouth and the player to have this situation decided as soon as possible.”

What’s unclear at this stage is whether Liverpool see Huijsen as an addition to the current defensive core under incoming head coach Arne Slot, or potentially as a replacement.

Newcastle, for instance, were close to signing Joe Gomez last summer and still have an eye on Jarell Quansah.

Meanwhile, Konate’s situation remains unsettled, as he enters the final year of his contract this July.

Talks with Konate’s representatives are ongoing, though there’s still ground to cover.

“Maybe their consideration is influenced by the lack of developments so far on Konate’s contract situation, and you imagine Huijsen would have a good chance of starting alongside Van Dijk if he was signed,”

Though Huijsen is naturally left-sided, much like Van Dijk, this doesn’t rule out a partnership.

However, it could suggest that Liverpool are planning, possibly seeing Huijsen as a long-term successor to the Dutch captain.

Also read: Sky Germany reveals Virgil van Dijk’s new Liverpool contract details


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