UNSTOPPABLE centre-back will new Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool could soon be facing a predicament in the centre-back area.

Virgil van Dijk has just turned 34 - and is only under contract until 2027. Eventually the club will have to move on from the £75m colossus.

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It makes sense to put the feelers out on potential replacements as soon as possible in order to ensure a seamless transition. But the Anfield side also have a pressing concern to sign a defender in the current transfer window for a few different reasons.

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For one, they sold Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen and still haven’t replaced him. Richard Hughes did well to attract a fee of over £30m for the 22-year-old but his departure leaves a significant gap.

Liverpool looking at several centre-backs

Next is the injury situation around Joe Gomez.

Liverpool are down to three senior centre-back options but having suffered an injury-ravaged campaign last season, the 28-year-old is back on the treatment table.

And then we come to the contract conundrum involving Ibrahima Konate. Liverpool are facing another Trent Alexander-Arnold situation with the Frenchman - who has less than 12 months to run on his current deal.

That’s why we’ve seen links established with players like Joel Ordonez, Giovanni Leoni and Konstantinos Koulierakis.

Koulierakis: The new Van Dijk

Those three names were mentioned by transfer insider Lewis Steele last week - with Greek reporter Giannis Chorianopoulos emphasising that Koulierakis was indeed scouted by the Reds last season.

“Liverpool see him as the next Van Dijk,” says a report from Sportime in Greece.

The 21-year-old left-sided defender plays for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga - having been signed from PAOK in 2024 for around €15m and is under contract until 2029.

Previous reports have valued the stopper at around £41m.

Koulierakis is described as unstoppable

Greece international Koulierakis impressed observers during his first season in German football - with Liverpool recruiters evidently taking notice.

In an interview with Anfield Watch, Koulierakis’ former coach at the PAOK academy, Alexiadis Alexandros, said: “At the first year, he was among the three top talents in his age group.

“From the moment he moved in the U17 and changed his position, he has been unstoppable up until now.”

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