Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen are ideal for Liverpool's defensive rebuild - Reds sporting director Richard Hughes should be planning a summer transfer raid on former club Bournemouth

Liverpool need a new centre-back. We've known that for an awful long time now, but the paucity of options was made painfully clear at the Philips Arena on Wednesday night.

It was imperative that Slot took advantage of the opportunity to rest Virgil van Dijk, who starts nearly every game, and the injury-prone Ibrahima Konate. However, with utility man Joe Gomez still not back to full fitness, Liverpool were left with just one orthodox centre-back in Jarell Quansah, prompting Slot to ask left-back Andy Robertson to play in the middle alongside the youngster.

It didn't go particularly well, with both Quansah and Robertson embarrassed by Johan Bakayoko on PSV's equaliser, while the former also contributed to Ricardo Pepi's winner just before the break by making a complete mess of an attempted clearance in the build-up. Furthermore, when Robertson came off in the second half, Wataru Endo had to move back into the heart of the defence.

To make matters even worse, 18-year-old centre-back Amara Nallo was sent off for a professional foul on Bakayoko just four minutes into his professional debut - completing a miserable evening for nearly all of Liverpool's defenders, with Conor Bradley also looking vulnerable while deputising for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.

Quansah's performance wasn't exactly the worst of the evening from a Liverpool perspective - but it was the most concerning. There's now an undeniable air of uncertainty around a player who took everyone by surprise at the start of last season when he slotted so seamlessly into the Liverpool backline amid a defensive injury crisis.

Truth be told, he's not looked right since his costly mistake in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in March, and there's always the feeling now that no matter how well he appears to be playing, another error is never far away.

By complete contrast, Dean Huijsen is exuding confidence and calmness right now.

It's certainly no coincidence that Bournemouth have become one of the toughest teams in the league to break down since Huijsen was given a regular run of games. The 19-year-old unsurprisingly took time to settle at the Vitality Stadium following his summer switch from Juventus, but Andoni Iraola's decision to promote him to the starting line-up for the game against Tottenham on December 5 proved a masterstroke - and not just because Huijsen scored the winner that day.

Bournemouth had kept just one clean sheet in the league going into the game; they've now got six. And Huijsen is a big reason why, on account of his ability to both read the play and break it up.

The Cherries' 'Chill Guy' is also incredibly comfortable on the ball and has a fine range of passing - two key attributes for any potential Liverpool defender.

Lest anyone forget, the Reds have been monitoring Huijsen's progress for some time now. Before he'd even left Juventus to join Roma on loan in January of last year, Liverpool were looking at the composed central defender, who had rejected the chance to join Real Madrid as a teenager in favour of learning his trade in Italy.

Of course, Hughes only arrived at Anfield last summer and Huijsen also joined Bournemouth after he'd left his post as technical director - but the Dutch-born Spain Under-21 international appears to have the perfect age and player profile for the typical Liverpool signing.

Best of all, it's been claimed that there is a buy-out clause in his contract that can be activated at the end of the season. The only issue is that several other top teams are reportedly queuing up to sign Huijsen, including Chelsea and Real Madrid.

Liverpool are likely to face just as much competition for the signature of Milos Kerkez, the 21-year-old full-back that looks like the ideal long-term replacement for Robertson. As former Reds defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports, "He's aggressive, he's got pace and he's really aggressive bombing up and down the left side."

Kerkez has also taken his game to a whole other level under Iraola this season - his performance in Bournemouth's 2-1 win over Manchester City was particularly eye-catching - and speculation is mounting that Liverpool are lining up a bid. While transfer tattle should nearly always be taken with a pinch of salt, it's a move that makes so much sense: Kerkez, with his Robertson-like tenacity, wins the ball with impressive regularity and he knows what to do with it.

Dominik Szoboszlai would obviously welcome the arrival of his international colleague at Anfield, while former Feyenoord coach Slot has reportedly been a fan of Kerkez since the defender's spell at AZ. Most significantly of all, though, it was Hughes who brought Kerkez to Bournemouth from AZ in July 2023. It should prove even easier to convince him to join him at Liverpool...

Of course, Liverpool fans want meaningful action rather than more talk right now. Hughes deserves credit for playing a pivotal role in the appointment of Slot as Jurgen Klopp's successor, but anxiety is growing over the lack of movement in the market - particularly as we know that the club is in an even stronger financial position after topping the Champions League standings - and the fact that Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah have yet to extend contracts that expire this summer.

The thing is, though, even if Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold do commit their futures to the Reds, a defensive rebuild will still be required, particularly as the Dutchman is now 33, Konate cannot be relied upon to stay fit and Robertson is visibly in decline.

Encouragingly, Slot stated ahead of the PSV game that he knows for certain that plans are being made for next season. He said that they're "definitely working on strengthening in the summer". For Hughes, that could well mean weakening his former club's brilliant backline.