Richard Hughes ready to revive move for long-term Liverpool target

Richard Hughes has been at the centre of attention at Liverpool ever since he was hired as their sporting director.

The Englishman spent a record-breaking amount of money on new players last term as he managed to break the British transfer record twice.

Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak were the result of the record being broken twice and, even though many people expected them to send Liverpool straight back to the top of the Premier League, they couldn't have been more wrong.

In fact, the Reds' poor form was so bad that there were genuinely times when it felt like Liverpool wouldn't qualify for the Champions League.

Fortunately, this didn't end up happening but, if the Anfield outfit want to improve their standing, they're going to have to make a fair few additions with Hughes already lining deals up for some players.

Liverpool may end up reigniting their interest in Josh Acheampong

Liverpool fans would be forgiven if the name Josh Acheampong doesn't ring a bell.

The Englishman is one of Chelsea's many centre-backs who featured for them this season.

The defender is just 20 years old, but, even with all the players that the Blues have brought in, he still managed to appear in 30 games across all competitions.

When called upon, he often held his own with the centre-back even chipping in with two goals this term.

Liverpool were linked with a move for the youngster in the past but, after he signed his new deal with Chelsea, the transfer never came to fruition.

But, as per a fresh update from David Lynch via Anfield Index, the centre-back may end up re-appearing in the Reds' transfer plans this summer.

"Josh Acheampong was someone prior to him signing his new contract that Liverpool were kind of in contact with," he said.

"[Liverpool had been] making a small play [for Acheampong before his contract was sorted].

"If you move on, [Liverpool said] we could find a role for you.

"[Acheampong] seems like an option that would make sense and tick some boxes as a kind of centre half righted defender."

Josh Acheampong would be an interesting outside of the box option for Liverpool

One of the main reasons why Liverpool's fans want a new centre-back is because Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet both feel a tad too inexperienced to become Virgil van Dijk's partner for the season.

Although Jacquet has played a decent amount of games in Ligue 1, the Premier League is a huge step-up and, if he messes up at some point and costs his team a win, it could knock his confidence massively.

Obviously, Joe Gomez could end up being Iraola's choice to partner with his captain but since his injury history makes him rather unreliable, the Reds are faced with that problem too.

Acheampong is only 20 years old but, since he's played in the Premier League 21 times already, he clearly has a decent amount of experience under his belt.

The fact that he can also be used as a right-back is also valuable as that is another area that Liverpool seriously need to upgrade.

There are plenty of decisions left to be made this summer so there's no need for Hughes to jump into anything yet but, if a deal for Acheampong arises and Chelsea aren't demanding an extortionate fee, it's definitely something that the Reds should look into.

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