Real Madrid's new stance on Marc Guehi transfer with Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate involved

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Arne Slot’s side are keen to sign a central defender in the upcoming windows, but face plenty of competition, with Real and Bayern Munich among the most serious contenders for the signatures of top players.Liverpool failed to get a £35million deal across the line for Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day and have since lost summer signing Giovanni Leoni to an ACL injury. It has left them short of options in the middle of the back line, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate backed up by only Joe Gomez.Slot has hinted that he won’t move for Guehi in the January transfer window – and Crystal Palace are understood to prefer losing their captain for free in the summer rather than for a fee mid-season.

That leaves Liverpool vulnerable to challenges from abroad, with foreign clubs able to speak to players like Guehi about a pre-contract agreement in January.Guehi’s Palace contract is due to expire on June 30, like Konate and a host of other centre-backs, including Bayern’s Dayot Upemecano and Real pair Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba. It has created a crowded market and The Times reports that Real are focusing on free agents because they don’t want to pay for a new centre-back.READ MORE: Liverpool defender undergoes surgery as manager gives injury updateREAD MORE: Marcus Rashford absence from Barcelona training explained as wish gets grantedThat is partly because they splashed £50m to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth in the summer and also because they have 18-year-old Joan Martínez coming through.

The Germany international is refusing to sign a new deal with Dortmund and has emerged as a potential alternative to Guehi for Liverpool.Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL packageThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it.