Centre-back confirms he's ready to join Liverpool

Another centre-back is now ready to join Liverpool.

It looks like the Reds could be missing out on Marc Guehi.

The latest update from Fabrizio Romano is that Manchester City have accelerated their attempts to lure the England international away from Crystal Palace this month.

Liverpool had all-but agreed everything for Guehi last summer and then the move collapsed at the last minute. It seemed like a certainty that the Reds would move for him in the summer when he became a free agent.

However, City with their defensive injury crisis have moved in and look to have lured Guehi to the Etihad instead.

It's a huge blow for Liverpool. Missing out on Guehi is a disaster because he was so close to signing for Liverpool. He was wearing the club's training kit. Ready to be announced before Palace pulled the plug on the deal.

But also, he was pretty much the perfect profile in terms of what Liverpool needed for their centre-back rebuild. He's one of the best players in England in his position and he is homegrown making him an attractive prospect.

Unfortunately, there aren't many players like that in the market, who Liverpool could genuinely hope to buy. Guehi was one of a kind. Having entered his prime as well, it would have been an incredible move.

Now though, Liverpool have to look at alternatives and one option they could explore is someone who has been catching the eye at the African Cup of Nations.

Calvin Bassey has been going under the radar for his performances at Fulham this season. But he confirmed those club performances are not an anomaly, he is capable of producing those kind performances at international level.

The 26-year-old Nigerian has been outstanding at AFCON, winning 60% of his defensive duels and 73.6% of his aerial duels.

Impressively, playing in a more position oriented team like Nigeria, Bassey also showcased his quality on the ball, pulling the strings from deep and showcasing his nice passing range.

Bassey has the best defensive duel success rate (75.23%) among any centre-back to have played at least 1500 minutes and averaged at least six defensive duels per 90 in the Premier League this season.

He is quick, strong and reads the game incredibly well.

Wit his performances at Fulham and for Nigeria at AFCON, Bassey has confirmed that he is ready to join a club like Liverpool. He's ready for the next step in his career.

As Guehi alternatives go, he's the perfect choice. He is also homegrown having developed at Leicester City's academy and he is still relatively young at 26-years-old.

On top of that, he is the same sort of profile in his ability on the ball, how he can carry it forward and also read the game astutely.

Right now he has one year left on his contract at Fulham, the club has an option to extend until 2028. This summer therefore feels like Fulham's best chance to get the highest possible money for him.

It's also important to mention, Bassey worked with Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers, who now works with Arne Slot's backroom staff at Liverpool.

So, he'll be well-known by the coaching staff, too.

Which is why the Reds should be all over this, if they indeed do miss out on Guehi. Bassey is ready to join. He has made that abundantly clear with his performances on the pitch.

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