Ben Jacobs: Liverpool prepared to make transfer ‘exception’ as Richard Hughes compiles shortlist | OneFootball

Ben Jacobs has given encouragement to Liverpool fans left hoping and praying for the addition of a new centre-back before the transfer window shuts in three weeks’ time.

Arne Slot currently has just three natural senior options in that area of the pitch, one of whom (Joe Gomez) has been laid low with injury of late, and the head coach was forced to deploy the likes of Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas and Trey Nyoni out of position to plug gaps during pre-season fixtures.

The Reds have been strongly linked with a move for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi this month, with Parma teenager Giovanni Leoni and (as we reported on Empire of the Kop earlier today) Brentford’s Nathan Collins also being considered.

Jacobs: Liverpool likely to siign a centre-back this month

Jacobs took to X on Monday evening with a comprehensive update on where things stand with Liverpool’s pursuit of an additional centre-back before the 1 September deadline.

The journalist has claimed that LFC are ‘expected to’ sign a central defender in the next 21 days, with a ‘feeling since May’ that any such addition would be made late in the summer.

Sporting director Richard Hughes has been compiling a shortlist of candidates who are mostly in the 18-22 age bracket, although a ‘slight exception’ has been made for Guehi, who’s viewed as a ‘market opportunity too good to turn down’.

Crystal Palace are reportedly eager to sell him this year while he’s still under contract, although the 25-year-old (valued at £40m) would be content to see out the remaining 11 months of his deal at Selhurst Park and is ‘not agitating for a move away’.

Jacobs added that the aforementioned Leoni is also a ‘strong target under consideration’ at Anfield.

(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Guehi would definitely warrant an exception at Liverpool

Liverpool fans may justifiably be feeling concerned at the plausible possibility of ending the transfer window with only three senior centre-backs (maybe fewer if injuries strike), although FSG are renowned for not pressing the panic button when it gets to this stage of the summer.

They didn’t recruit for the sake of it 12 months ago when the season began with no new signings being made and a move for Martin Zubimendi collapsing at the 11th hour, and they won’t freak out over the current defensive situation either.

Some additional urgency is required from Hughes to box off that obvious squad concern before the transfer window shuts in three weeks’ time, and it’d be downright negligent not to put in at least one proper bid for Guehi, especially amid reports that Manchester United have made an approach for him (Football Transfers).

The Crystal Palace captain may be outside the age profile of a typical FSG signing, but at 25 he’s in that sweet spot of boasting ample elite-level experience while also just entering what should be his prime footballing years. The England international would also help towards fulfilling homegrown quota requirements for domestic and European squads.

It’s rare nowadays for clubs to have the opportunity to land such a player for just £40m, and the Eagles’ apparent willingness to cash in rather than lose him on a free transfer should also play into Liverpool’s hands.

The Anfield hiearchy are famed for not bowing to the swell of public opinion and deviating massively from their modus operandi, but given the circumstances at play, a move for Guehi would absolutely warrant the ‘exception’ to which Jacobs referred.