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Xabi Alonso is pushing to sign ‘promising’ £25m defender who Liverpool want to buy

Lucas Arnold

Thu 18 July 2024 8:55, UK

It now almost feels like a long time ago that Xabi Alonso was being incessantly linked with replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

Alonso eventually decided to stay at Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool instead landed on Arne Slot, a very popular figure already at Anfield.

Slot is finally underway with his pre-season at Kirkby, and there seems to be a ton of optimism for what the Dutchman can achieve.

Slot has already made it clear that he wants to give Sepp van de Berg a chance in the coming weeks, a player who looked almost certain to leave beforehand. 

But with Joel Matip now a free agent having left Liverpool, Slot needs a new centre-back, and will seemingly look internally first.

However, it ultimately feels as if Richard Hughes and his team will take to the transfer market to solve the issue, perhaps planning for the eventuality that Virgil van Dijk leaves in a year’s time too.

That being said, Liverpool were recently linked with Juventus defender Dean Huijsen, who is causing a lot of excitement.

Xabi Alonso now personally trying to sign Liverpool target Dean Huijsen

19-year-old Huijsen enjoyed a ‘promising’ season for Roma on loan from Juventus last season and looks to have attracted a lot of interest.

In addition to Liverpool, Alonso is now very keen to take £25m-rated Huijsen to Bayer Leverkusen.

READ MORE: New national team boss tells £25m Liverpool player to leave Anfield immediately

That’s according to French outlet who were reporting on the interest because Paris Saint-Germain are also considering a move.

Alonso is said to have personally spoken to Huijsen’s entourage recently to assess how feasible a move would be.

The Dutch-born defender who is playing his football for Spain is as efficient in his duels as he is effective with his recovery pace, and it’s no surprise that so many top clubs are interested.

At Liverpool, Huijsen could be incredibly well-positioned to study the likes of Van Dijk for a season before then being propelled into a bigger role.

But unless Liverpool step up their initial interest promptly, it seems as if any opportunity to sign the 19-year-old could quickly evaporate.

All that being said, Liverpool have also recently submitted an enquiry for Mohamed Simakan – a more experienced option at RB Leipzig.