Arne Slot wants Liverpool to sign Crystal Palace defender to replace Virgil van Dijk | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Arne Slot wants the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), to sign Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix as a long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk, according to a report.

Van Dijk remains an important player for Liverpool and signed a new contract with last season’s Premier League winners in April 2025.

However, the Netherlands international defender is 34 now and is out of contract at Liverpool at the end of next season.

Liverpool need to find a long-term successor to Van Dijk, even though Ibrahima Konate is set to sign a new deal, Jeremy Jacquet will officially move to Anfield in the summer of 2026, and Giovanni Leoni will recover fully from his anterior cruciate ligament injury next season.

According to Sports Boom, Liverpool have identified Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix as the perfect candidate to replace Van Dijk in the long term.

The report has claimed that Liverpool are ‘set to push hard’ to sign the France international central defender in the summer of 2026.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot ‘has made Lacroix his top centre-back target’, according to the report, which has claimed that FSG will back the Dutchman once again in the summer transfer window.

This is not the first time that Liverpool have set their sights on signing a defender from Palace.

The Merseyside club were close to a deal for Marc Guehi last summer, only for Palace to pull the plug on a potential deal on the final day of the transfer window after they failed to sign a suitable replacement.

Guehi eventually joined Manchester City from Palace in the January transfer window.

Sports Boom’s report about Slot making Lacroix his top centre-back target comes after TEAMtalk claimed Liverpool’s interest in the defender on March 29.

That particular report credited Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Aston Villa with interest in the 26-year-old France international defender, too.

Earlier this season, though, Lacroix opened up on his love for Palace, with whom he is under contract until the summer of 2029.

The defender said: “My relationship with the fans I think is quite good.

“In my mind, when I first arrived, I always was thinking, it’s not only the actual team who I’m working with. It’s also the people around the team – and that includes the supporters.

“I have a lot of respect for them, for the people who follow us at every single game. So I think creating a good relationship with them and that [celebrating following wins] is a way of giving back what they give us.

“They always give us that extra energy.”

The Palace star added: “Personally, this season I want to play the best football I can. And hopefully that means I can compete for a place at the World Cup.

“Of course that has to be the aim, because if we have good results and we play well, like JP [Mateta] has shown, you can earn your place.

“If you are in form, you can compete with the guys who are already in the national team. And we have a big competition with the World Cup this year.

“I want to do it – and I believe I can do it.”