Liverpool identify ‘vulnerable’ area and target ‘impact’ player for short-term fix – top source | OneFootball

Liverpool are considering bringing a defender to Anfield in the January transfer window to fix their issues for the immediate future, sources have told TEAMtalk, with the defending Premier League champions having ‘some doubts’ about being able to sign Marc Guehi.

Although Liverpool started the new season with seven wins in a row in all competitions, the wheels seem to have come off, with Arne Slot’s side already eight points behind leaders Arsenal after 11 rounds of matches in the Premier League.

Liverpool have lost five of their last six league games and have already conceded 17 goals in 11 Premier League fixtures.

While the struggles of Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak have been rightly highlighted, Liverpool have been defensively poor, too.

Virgil van Dijk has not been the imperious player everyone knows he is, while Ibrahima Konate has made mistakes and is in bad form at the moment for the Fenway Sports Group (FSG)-owned club.

Liverpool have been unfortunate with the long-term knee injury to 2025 summer signing Giovanni Leoni and must be regretting not being able to get a deal done for Marc Guehi.

Crystal Palace had a deal in place with Liverpool over Guehi, who had undergone a medical and was eager to move to Anfield on the final day of the summer transfer window.

However, Palace, who won the FA Cup last season, pulled the plug in the eleventh hour after they failed to convince Igor Julio to make the move to Selhurst Park and replace Guehi in the team.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner has publicly said that Guehi will not sign a new deal, with sources telling TEAMtalk that the 25-year-old England international is still Liverpool’s top centre-back target in 2026.

However, Palace are unlikely to be willing to sell their star player in the middle of the season, with sources also telling TEAMtalk that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all find Guehi’s status as a free agent next summer very appealing.

TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Dean Jones, has now revealed that Liverpool are considering signing an alternative to Guehi to make an immediate impact on the team defensively.

Jones told TEAMtalk: “Obviously, they have been hoping to sign Marc Guehi after failing to land him in the summer, but there are some doubts about that happening, especially in January, and I have heard they might yet consider finding someone to bridge the gap and help them in the second half of the season.

“They would only do it for the right player, but, from what I understand, they are open-minded about the prospect of finding an experienced figure to come in and give them a new sense of resilience in defence.

“It’s not something that is completely decided at this stage, but I do think that there is a realisation they could do with another player to come in because they are vulnerable in defence.

“I don’t know exactly where they are at in terms of identifying the ideal new defensive option, but there are some early indications that they could move for an attainable player.

“That could be someone with an expiring contract, or someone who is on the fringes somewhere else, who might fancy the challenge of coming in and making an impact.”

In other news, Mohamed Salah has come under an extraordinary attack in the German press and has been tipped to leave Liverpool in 2026.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has revealed why Liverpool are in a better position than Tottenham Hotspur to sign Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth in the January transfer window.