According to Caught Offside, Liverpool could sign a new central defender this month with Joe Gomez on the radar of Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
The Merseyside giants have made no signings during the ongoing summer transfer window despite appointing a new manager in Arne Slot. Liverpool are in advanced talks with Valencia for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, but he is expected to return to the La Liga outfit on loan for the 2024/25 season.
It is now reported by Caught Offside that Liverpool are considering a late swoop for Sporting Lisbon defender Goncalo Inacio amid the uncertainty over Gomez’s future. Newcastle and Villa are admirers of Gomez, but the latter are yet to follow up with an approach. If he were to leave, the Reds could make a concrete effort to sign Inacio.
Top-class
Inacio has been linked with the Reds for some period of time. The 22-year-old is one of the best young centre-backs in Portuguese football alongside Antonio Silva. He has already made 173 appearances for Sporting at the age of just 22. He has shown a lot of maturity in his career and could be prepared for the next step.
The Portugal international is a left-footed centre-back with a preference for the left-sided role. He completed 67 passes per league game last season with an accuracy of 89%. He also averaged close to 2 clearances and 5 recoveries per outing. Inacio could be seen as an understudy to Virgil van Dijk before replacing him in future.
The big question mark is whether Liverpool can persuade Sporting into doing business in the final days of the transfer window. Inacio has a £51 million release clause in his contract with the Portuguese champions. Sporting could be reluctant to accept a long-term payment plan for him at the current stage of the window.
The Reds may have to pay most of the transfer fee up front. In case of staggered payments, Sporting could demand a much higher sum. It remains to be seen whether Inacio makes the switch. It could entirely depend on what happens with the future of Gomez, who was left out of the squad to face Ipswich Town last weekend.
