Liverpool agree on deal for £86.5m dream defender | OneFootball

Liverpool are currently undergoing a centre-back shake-up.

Giovanni Leoni came on board last summer for a £26m fee and is expected to be available for first-team duties next season once he recovers from injury.

Jeremy Jacquet will join the 19-year-old Italian as the Premier League champions’ new central defensive option. The 20-year-old Frenchman is coming in from Rennes with Richard Hughes having agreed to pay around £62m to secure his signing.

Liverpool could be losing Ibrahima Konate at the end of the season amid free transfer interest from Real Madrid - while Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are both out of contract in 2027.

The Anfield club therefore could do with sourcing some seriously experienced options at centre-back. And it looks like club recruiters have agreed on the identity of their preferred candidate.

Inter could earn €100m (£86.5m) for Bastoni

According to a report in TEAMtalk the Reds have lined up a deal for Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni. The left-sided centre-back is a hot property in the transfer market - with Barcelona also thought to be in the running.

The Catalans have been quoted a sum of between £69.2m and £86.5m for the Italian international - who is under contract until 2028.

“Liverpool have explored Bastoni’s situation, seeing him as a potential long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk," the report reads.

“The former Atalanta defender’s elite distribution aligns perfectly with Liverpool’s build-from-the-back philosophy, making him an ideal fit for the Reds’ defensive evolution.”

Van Dijk is out of contract in 2027 so there remains the possibility that Bastoni comes on board and spends a year alongside the Liverpool legend before eventually taking his place.

Alessandro Bastoni: Situation summary

Alessandro Bastoni remains a cornerstone of Inter’s defence with the club keen to keep him long term, but fresh Barcelona interest and a new injury scare are in the background.

Bastoni signed an extension to 2028 in 2023 and Inter have repeatedly briefed that they have no intention of selling, instead preparing to discuss another renewal to push his deal further into the next decade.

The player has consistently spoken positively about staying at San Siro and is widely seen as central to Inter’s project under successive coaches.

On the pitch his form across 2025‑26 has been strong enough that Barcelona view him as a priority target for summer 2026, with Inter valuing him at upwards of €80m.

Inter’s stance is that any deal would have to reflect that price tag, leaving the onus on the player to push if he genuinely wants the move.

The main short‑term concern is fitness. After previous muscle issues, he was forced off in the second half of the recent Milan derby and will undergo further assessment, though early indications frame it more as a knock than a major lay‑off.

Analysis

Bastoni usually plays in a back three at club level - meaning that his acquisition could prompt a change of shape in the Reds’ backline.