Liverpool have TWO can't-miss targets ready to replace Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool have two centre-back targets who feel absolutely can't-miss. Get them signed up.

Liverpool's centre-back situation is a mess, honestly. Every single option has some sort of giant red flag in regards to their future and the club haven't dealt with the situation at all well.

Giovanni Leoni's knee injury makes him an unknown quantity going forward. It's an awful injury to get at 18, robbing the Italian of a year's development.

Ibrahima Konate can leave for free at the end of the season with the expiry of his contract. He's yet to sign a new deal and the longer this drags on, the more it looks like he simply won't.

Joe Gomez nearly left the club in the summer but had a move to AC Milan dropped right at the end of the window. There will be more rumours around his future in 2026.

And then there's Virgil van Dijk. Still Liverpool's star defender. Still one of the best in the world - but someone who will be 35 and have just one year remaining on his deal by the start of next season.

Replacing Van Dijk is absolutely vital, even if said player plays alongside him for a season. Replacing Konate, too, simply has to happen if he's not going to sign that new deal.

It did look like Marc Guehi would fill the void and step in. Liverpool tried to force through a move right at the end of the summer window but after Crystal Palace pulled the plug, they've been left floundering.

Guehi is now off to Manchester City and Liverpool must find alternatives. Fortunately, we think they've got two can't-miss options.

Liverpool's can't-miss options

One centre-back who is continuously linked with Liverpool at the moment is Nico Schlotterbeck. The Reds do appear to have a green light to sign the defender.

Honestly, he'd be a better signing than Guehi for the role and one who could be Liverpool's biggest signing in years. Schlotterbeck will enter the final year of his Borussia Dortmund contract this summer and is in high demand.

Liverpool, though, may well be the best-placed team to sign the German.

But Teamtalk also claim there's real interest in Inter's Alessandro Bastoni. The Italian has been a key player for many years now and is comfortably one of the best defenders in Italy - if not the best.

Pairing him with Leoni could be a master stroke, in all honesty. He boasts all the skills Liverpool would want at centre-back and, again, most would take him over Guehi.

Our preference? Liverpool sign both. They need to overhaul their defence and they need to find a long-term successor to Van Dijk.

Their best chance of doing so lies in either Schlotterbeck or Bastoni - so why not double your chances?

🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas home range

👉🏻 Liverpool get GREEN light to sign Nico Schlotterbeck

👉🏻 Centre-back confirms he's ready to join Liverpool

👉🏻 Fabrizio Romano CONFIRMS belief £52m Liverpool target will agree move