Overview

• Giovanni Leoni has undergone successful ACL surgery and is expected to be sidelined for around 12 months.
• Liverpool currently have three fit senior central defenders in Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez.
• Club figures are holding internal discussions about recruiting a defender in January, with no decision made and no urgency reported.
• Marc Guéhi remains admired after a £35m deadline-day move collapsed in the summer, though reports suggest he may not leave Crystal Palace mid-season.
• A data-led shortlist includes Sven Botman, Willian Pacho, Ousmane Diomande and Zeno Debast, while Liverpool continue to work on extending Konaté’s deal as Real Madrid can talk to him from January.