Liverpool have three man shortlist to be Virgil van Dijk’s heir

Virgil van Dijk will be entering the final year of his Liverpool deal next season.

The towering Dutchman has only just signed an extension to his Anfield stay but, since he's getting to the latter stages of his career, Arne Slot and Richard Hughes only wanted to offer their captain a short deal.

Indeed, there's obviously still a chance that Liverpool could look to add another year onto his stay but, with Jeremy Jacquet coming in and Giovanni Leoni also at the club, it feels unlikely for that to happen.

However, if the Anfield outfit have another season like this one next time around, they may have no choice to extend his contract as they won't be able to entice anyone to join them.

Despite this, several players are still being linked with a Liverpool switch and now, it seems like they have a three-man shortlist to replace their captain this summer.

Liverpool have some tough decisions to make in the summer about the future of their defence

As mentioned, Liverpool's defensive line has been a major topic of conversation for some time now.

Players such as Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez were brought in to try and bolster their ranks but, up until recently, their true colours have failed to shine through.

This has caused a lot of strain to be placed upon the shoulders of Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate with Leoni's injury certainly not helping matters much.

However, as per a fresh update from TEAMtalk, Liverpool now have a three-man shortlist to replace their captain this summer.

Many centre-backs have been linked with an Anfield switch over the last few weeks, however, if Liverpool want to replace Van Dijk, they need a world class player.

And, it seems like that's exactly the calibre of player that the Reds are looking for.

TEAMtalk have shared that Alessandro Bastoni, Micky van de Ven and Nico Schlotterbeck have all been 'shortlisted' by Liverpool's recruitment team.

Each of these players are seen as 'successors' for Van Dijk with the club needing to 'prepare for life' without the Dutchman leading the way.

Liverpool must sign a new centre-back this summer

Even though there are several other areas of Liverpool's squad that could do with upgrading this season, their defence should be at the top of their priority list.

There have been several times this season when Kerkez and Konate have been left in no-mans land with neither player doing much good for Liverpool.

Of course, the lack of depth that they've had probably hasn't helped matters much with more pressure being added to their shoulders but, in reality, that's exactly why they need more defenders.

If Slot chooses against signing another centre-back this summer, Liverpool could end up in an even worse position than they currently find themselves in.

The Reds' transfer plans are usually kept quite close to their chest but, even with Jacquet set to join as soon as the summer transfer window opens, it would be a massive surprise to not see new faces get brought in.

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