Report: Liverpool plan £26m ‘bid’ for English centre-back Leeds sold for just £4m – and he could join | OneFootball

Liverpool are aiming to bring an English centre-back to Anfield in the summer of 2026 that the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), could have got for a much lower fee when he was at Leeds United, according to a report.

Jeremy Jacquet will link up with the Liverpool squad next season, after the defending Premier League champions struck a deal with Rennes in the January transfer window. Giovanni Leoni is also due to return to action for the 2026/27 campaign after he recovers fully from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

However, there is still a need for Liverpool to sign a new centre-back, with Virgil van Dijk now 34, Ibrahima Konate out of contract at the end of the season and Joe Gomez injury-prone.

It has now emerged that Liverpool are back in for former Leeds United star Charlie Cresswell and are already planning a bid for the Toulouse centre-back.

On January 4, 2026, French news outlet Sport.fr reported Liverpool’s interest in Cresswell, noting that Newcastle United were monitoring the Toulouse star, too.

TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Dean Jones, reported that West Ham had made Cresswell their leading centre-back target for the January transfer window, but the Hammers eventually signed Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea instead.

Sports Boom has now reported that Liverpool are still keen on Cresswell, and so are Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion.

There is interest in the defender from Crystal Palace, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg, as well, in the 23-year-old.

Liverpool will reportedly ‘table a bid’ of over €30million (£26.1m, $35.6m) for Cresswell, which ‘could be enough to try to persuade’ Toulouse ‘to part with’ the defender.

Cresswell has been on the books of Toulouse since the summer of 2024, when he joined from Leeds for just £3.8million (€4.3m, $5.2m)

The centre-back played just 14 times for the Leeds first team, but the 23-year-old has also made 56 appearances for Toulouse, in which he has scored seven goals and given four assists.

Which other major centre-backs are Liverpool keen on?

Cresswell is not the only centre-back that Liverpool have been linked with for a summer move.

Like any elite club, the defending Premier League champions are not putting all their eggs in one basket.

Our transfer insider, Dean Jones, reported on February 5 that Liverpool want to sign Micky van de Ven from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2026.

Tottenham are in talks with Van de Ven over a new contract, but the chance to play for the defending Premier League champions and compete for major trophies on a regular basis could be too tempting for the Dutch centre-back to resist.

Joel Ordonez of Club Brugge is another centre-back that Liverpool are monitoring.

Sources have told our transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, that Liverpool are keen on Alessandro Bastoni, too.

The Inter Milan star is one of the best centre-backs in Serie A, and we understand that he is open to a move away from the Italian club in the summer.

Latest Liverpool transfer news: Real Madrid plans for midfielder, Mo Salah latest

Signing a centre-back is not the only plan for Liverpool in the summer of 2026, with the defending Premier League champions looking for a central midfielder, too.

Liverpool are keen on AZ Alkmaar midfielder Kees Smit, but transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has revealed how determined Real Madrid are to stop a move to Anfield from happening.

Keeping the Liverpool versus Real Madrid transfer battle theme, a German star fancies a move to Estadio Bernabeu and not to Anfield, if he were to leave his current club at the end of the season.

And finally, regarding outgoings, Romano has revealed the latest on Mohamed Salah, who is said to be in talks with a Saudi Pro League club over a 2026 summer exit, though a second new Saudi force are also now in the running.