Liverpool Ready To Battle Arsenal Over Deal To Sign Ligue 1 Star

The January transfer window in now closed so it’s time to look at those deals that didn’t get over the line and those being lined-up for the summer. Today, Issa Diop is attracting interest….

Liverpool are ready to battle it out with the likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid over the signature of Toulouse defender Issa Diop this summer, according to a report in the Mirror.

Diop has been with Toulouse his entire career having joined the club as a youngster and progressed through their youth system before breaking in to the first team set-up in 2015.

The 21-year-old is now an established part of the starting eleven at the Stadium de Toulouse and has racked up 26 appearances in all competition for the Ligue 1 outfit this season so far.

Diop is now considered as one of the most highly-rated young centre-backs in French football while he’s also making strides at international level having represented France at every youth level from U16 to U21.

His potential has attracted interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe as the Mirror are citing a report from Mundo Deportivo that claims Liverpool and Arsenal are ready to battle-it-out over a deal this summer.

Jurgen Klopp is expected to further strengthen his defence at the end of the season as Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan have failed to impress and Diop could be viewed as a long-term replacement.

Arsene Wenger is also in the market for another centre-back as Per Mertesacker is retiring in June while Laurent Koscielny is plagued by an on-going Achilles problem and Diop is seemingly on the Arsenal bosses radar.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Liverpool transfer news

However, the Premier League duo face plenty of competition as the report says Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Barcelona are also chasing the talented defender so it’s going to be interesting to see where Diop ends up if he does leave Toulouse this summer.