DREAM £100m centre-back deal is all coming together for Liverpool

It looks like it’s all coming together for one centre-back signing in particular at Liverpool.

While the focus for much of the last year has been on signing Marc Guehi the club’s sporting director Richard Hughes has been left with no choice but to move on.

Having come so close to adding the 25-year-old to the squad last summer Hughes could only watch on with frustration as Manchester City swooped in for the England international this winter.

The Premier League champions have been undermanned at centre-back all season long - owing to Guehi’s failed transfer, Giovanni Leoni’s injury and Jarell Quansah being sold to Bayer Leverkusen.

A top-quality recruit this summer would have alleviated the burden on Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez - and may even have helped Arne Slot change his formation.

Arne Slot gives Van de Ven his seal of approval

It looks like the Merseysiders are going to have to wait for a new defender - until summer at least when Konate’s contract expires.

And one name above all others is beginning to stand out for Liverpool recruiters. It is a face VERY familiar to the Reds’ head coach Arne Slot - who has TWICE tried to sign Micky van de Ven in his career so far.

When the 24-year-old centre-back was making his way at Volendam in the Netherlands Slot tried to acquire his services for AZ where he was head coach.

And when the time came for Van de Ven to move on in the summer of 2021 Slot AGAIN tried to sign him - this time for Feyenoord.

Van de Ven opted for Wolfsburg - emerging as one of the finest central defenders in the Bundesliga - before joining Tottenham in 2023.

The London side are trying to negotiate a new contract for the left-footer - whose current deal expires in 2029.

Spurs want £100m for Van de Ven

But with Spurs going nowhere it’s going to be a difficult ask. And if no deal is on the horizon then the Europa League champions will be forced to consider a sale.

Where better than Anfield where Van de Ven has several Dutch national team colleagues and a head coach who has already given his seal of approval?

Moreover there is the possibility of work to be done behind the scenes in order to push this deal forward.

According to Liverpool insider Lewis Steele the Netherlands’ defender is a stablemate of Reds’ midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

And even more important is the claim that Van de Ven is now ready to LEAVE the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven shares an agent with Reds midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in Jose Fortes Rodriguez, and is said to be keen to move on from Spurs,” the report reads.

Spurs are likely to insist on around £100m for Van de Ven should he leave next summer. That would be a world-record transfer for a defender - bettering the £80m paid by Manchester United for Harry Maguire in 2018.

Van de Ven has time on his side aged only 24 and given he can play in a back four or a back three he is ready to provide ample solutions for Liverpool in the long term.

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