Liverpool edged out in transfer battle for £4m 'new Leoni' | OneFootball

Liverpool have got serious over the last couple of transfer windows about the centre-back department.

With Virgil van Dijk turning 35 at the end of the season - and the futures of Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate under scrutiny - it’s time for sporting director Richard Hughes to have a focus on the future.

Last summer Giovanni Leoni was added on a £26m deal from Parma but the 19-year-old remains injured owing to a season-ending ACL tear suffered on debut.

And in the winter transfer window the Premier League champions REALLY stepped up their centre-back recruitment.

Promising youngster Mor Talla Ndiaye was brought in from Amitie in Senegal while Noah Adekoya joined after leaving Burnley’s academy.

Both will go into Rob Page’s under-21 squad and they will be joined there next summer by Ifeanyi Ndukwe - who will come in from Austria Vienna after he turns 18.

Liverpool sign Jacquet and Leoni

But the biggest centre-back arrival for 2026 is undoubtedly Jeremy Jacquet.

The 20-year-old will be signed from Rennes on a deal worth around £62m next summer and is expected to replace Konate in the first-team picture.

Both Jacquet and Leoni are among the continent’s top centre-back prospects and there is no doubt that Hughes and Liverpool have pulled off a sensational coup in landing the pair.

However it now appears that Liverpool were not going to stop there in terms of young, centre-back recruits.

A report in Tutto Mercato Web claims that the Anfield side were in the running to sign ANOTHER teenage central defender in January.

Liverpool lose Branimir Mlacic to Udinese

Branimir Mlacic is the hottest young Croatian talent having made the breakthrough at Hajduk Split for the 2025/26 season.

The 18-year-old completed a surprise €5m (£4m) move to Serie A side Udinese on transfer deadline day - with the TMW report revealing not only Liverpool’s interest but that of Inter Milan and Como in the Italian top flight as well as Borussia Dortmund.

“Udinese has signed one of the continent's finest young talents in Branimir Mlacic," the report reads.

“It's not just Inter Milan,” the report reveals.

“Como, in Italy, is also interested, and no surprise there. Then Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, half of Europe.”

Mlacic - a new Leoni case for Inter

Inter lost out to Liverpool for Leoni last summer and were determined to get a deal over the line for Mlacic as a replacement.

"[The] club had been burned by their experience with Giovanni Leoni and didn't want any doubts," the report states of Inter's chase.

That the 6’4 stopper is held in the same regard as Leoni should indicate his quality - and it won’t be long before we see his name linked with an onward move.

Liverpool may have lost the battle for Mlacic - but there is plenty more defensive talent coming to supplement their centre-back ranks in 2026.