Liverpool finally step up their centre-back search! Micky van de Ven of 'keen interest' to Reds amid contract stand-off with Tottenham

Liverpool have stumbled through the 2025-26 season largely relying on Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to hold the fort in the centre of defence. However, neither player has performed anywhere near the levels of last year, when the Reds strolled to the Premier League title.

Homegrown centre-back Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen during the summer. He was effectively replaced by Italian teenager Giovanni Leoni, signed from Parma and who impressed on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup before his season was cruelly ended in the same game by an ACL injury. Joe Gomez is the only other natural centre-back on Liverpool's books.

Konate's arrival from RB Leipzig in 2021 was the last time the club signed a defender over the age of 21, much to the frustration of supporters, while head coach Arne Slot has expressed his desire to strengthen this position before the January window shuts, but is aware he probably won't get his wish.

"I think everyone is aligned about the challenges we are facing," Slot said after right-back Conor Bradley was ruled out for the season earlier this month. "That's not to say that we are going to act, but everyone is aligned on what we are facing. There's no-one who has a different opinion about it. But that's not to say that anything is going to happen."

Furthermore, Konate's future at Anfield remains in doubt with his contract up at the end of the season.

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According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool are 'developing a keen interest' in Van de Ven. The Dutchman's contract runs until 2029, and though Spurs have been intent on tying him down to a new deal that would make him among their highest earners, he has so far 'resisted' putting pen to paper on fresh terms.

Tottenham are said to be hoping to get better at selling in the market having lost various key players in recent years for minimal fees, and if Van de Ven refuses to sign a new contract, then it would prove a test of the club's commitment to that target.

Van de Ven, who has an existing relationship with Van Dijk from the Dutch national team, was linked with a move to Liverpool in 2023 when he was still at Wolfsburg, but the Reds never intensified their pursuit. He instead joined Spurs for an initial £34.5 million ($46.4m) fee and won the club's player of the year award in his first season. Van de Ven has played 80 times for Spurs across all competitions and played a starring role in their Europa League triumph last season, coming up with an acrobatic goal-line clearance to deny Rasmus Hojlund an equaliser in their 1-0 win against Manchester United in the final.

Liverpool had hoped to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace during the summer 2025 transfer window, but only agreed a fee on deadline day. Palace were, however, unable to find an appropriate replacement for their captain and pulled the plug on the deal at the eleventh hour.

With Guehi's contract at Selhurst Park up in 2026, Palace eventually opted to sell him this month instead of losing him on a free, accepting a £20m ($26.9m) offer from Manchester City and taking one of Liverpool's top targets off the table. With Guehi now unavailable to them, further links to Van de Ven could emerge in the coming months.