Murillo & Micky van de Ven: Will Liverpool sign two proven Premier League centre-halves? Ex-Reds defender talks up Nottingham Forest & Tottenham transfer raids

Ibrahima Konate continues to run his contract down on Merseyside, with the France international seemingly destined to hit free agency. The 26-year-old centre-half will leave a sizable void to be filled in an important area of the field.

Club captain Virgil van Dijk will be sticking around for another year, with 12 months left to run on his deal, but the experienced Dutchman will turn 35 in July and a long-term successor to the Premier League and Champions League title winner needs to be found.

Liverpool spent heavily in 2025, smashing British transfer records along the way, with huge sums of cash being invested in attacking talent such as Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike.

Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez were also acquired to fill full-back berths, but focus could shift to the centre of a creaking defensive unit in 2026. The Reds have already been linked with a number of players that currently grace the books of top-flight rivals in England.

Exciting Brazilian Murillo has been catching the eye at Forest, leading to him registering on several recruitment radars, while the power and pace of Van de Ven could be lured away from north London even if Spurs successfully fend off the threat of relegation this summer.

Quizzed on whether Premier League pedigree should be the priority for Liverpool, ex-Reds full-back Johnson - speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of BetMGM - said: “Possibly. I think it's important with Premier League experience in whatever position they're trying to improve in, because it's not just improving the position, they need to compete with whoever's going to be the league winners.

“It's not as easy as getting someone with that experience, they just need to be good enough. But I definitely feel proven, they haven't got the time to buy a 20-year-old that could be the best player, best centre-back in five years' time or six years' time, they need to start competing now.

“So those two look like the obvious if you had to pick out of the Premier League, but if they're good enough to step up to that level to compete for titles, given the chance, we'll never know.”

Pressed further on whether Liverpool should be looking to land a couple of central defenders, rather than merely covering the loss of Konate, Johnson added: “They probably need two, but going against what I said just now, one that can step in now that's good enough to compete, and then one that can potentially replace them in three or four years.

“They haven't really done that in the past, but that would be a sensible option for me. That doesn't prove that it works, but they need a centre-half now, and they're going to need to replace another one in a couple of years.”

It remains to be seen who will be making those transfer calls when another window opens for business. A year on from delivering the Premier League title to Anfield, Arne Slot finds himself operating under mounting pressure.

More boos rained down the stands during the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Chelsea, with Liverpool clinging on desperately to fourth place in the English top-flight table. Champions League qualification is on the cards, but change in the dugout has been mooted ahead of more reconstruction work being carried out on a squad that has fallen well short of expectations in 2025-26.