Reds recruiters blown away by Spanish aerial duels monster: He's a perfect match

Liverpool are in the midst of a centre-back shake-up.

That process began last summer when Richard Hughes landed Giovanni Leoni on a £26m deal from Parma.

Since then the Reds’ sporting director has secured a deal for promising Rennes youngster Jeremy Jacquet. The 20-year-old’s £62m transfer will be made official in July and he will slot into the Premier League champions’ centre-back rotation.

But there remains the possibility of adding another senior centre-back - especially if Ibrahima Konate leaves.

Konate, 26, is due to depart on a free transfer if no new contract can be agreed and Arne Slot will require an experienced option for first-team duties.

Liverpool scouts astonished by Marc Pubill

One interesting name emerging in the Spanish press is Olympic gold medallist Marc Pubill.

The 22-year-old Atletico Madrid defender only joined Diego Simeone’s side last summer but has been one of the revelations of the LaLiga season.

Now featuring at centre-back - amid issues around form and fitness for other Atletico options - Pubill has seized his opportunity.

He boasts a whopping aerial duels success rate of nearly 90 percent per FOTMOB - a virtue sure to be appreciated in the corridors of power at Anfield.

Fichajes is now claiming that Reds’ recruiters see the Spain international as a perfect match for Liverpool once Konate is gone.

Liverpool - according to the reports - have sent scouts to appreciate Pubill in person and they have been blown away by how well he’s stepped up his game.

Marc Pubill is a perfect match

“With Ibrahima Konaté likely to leave as a free agent this summer, the English club has set its sights on Marc Pubill as the ideal replacement,” the report reads.

“Liverpool greatly value the versatility and immediate impact the Spanish defender has shown at Atlético Madrid this season.

“Although he arrived in the Spanish capital to play on the right flank, Diego Simeone has transformed his role with resounding success.

“His twenty-three official appearances this season confirm a physical and tactical maturity that has astonished the British scouts who traveled to Madrid.

“The Atlético Madrid defender's profile perfectly matches the demands of English football thanks to his powerful aerial game and his ability to cover space in open play.”

Marc Pubill: Situation summary

Marc Pubill (22) is a 1.90m right‑footed defender for Atlético Madrid, now playing primarily as a right‑sided centre‑back in Simeone’s back four.

He came through Levante, then really emerged at Almería, where he logged over 60 La Liga games before Atleti paid around €16–20m for him and handed him a five‑year deal to 2030 in summer 2025.

This season his campaign flipped when he was brought into the XI at the end of November to shore up a leaky defence, then moved inside permanently as injuries and form issues hit the senior centre‑backs.

Since then he has been almost ever‑present, winning Atleti’s December Player of the Month, with metrics showing high duel and aerial success and strong ball‑recovery numbers for a young central defender.

Pubill’s main strengths are front‑foot defending, aerial dominance and defensive range: he attacks crosses, clears aggressively, covers wide channels comfortably and steps out to engage rather than sitting on his box.

On the ball he is tidy, carrying into midfield and playing simple vertical passes rather than forcing high‑risk diagonals.

Contracted to 2030 and already seen internally as close to “untouchable”, he’d be extremely hard to prise away, though his emergence has inevitably attracted big‑club scouting and early Barcelona links.

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