BREAKING NEWS: Arne Slot handpicks top target as Liverpool prepare big offer for dominant defender – sources

BREAKING NEWS: Arne Slot handpicks top target as Liverpool prepare big offer for dominant defender – sources

Arne Slot has his eyes on a top defensive target for Liverpool

Juventus defender Gleison Bremer is emerging as a top target for Liverpool boss Arne Slot before the close of the transfer window, TEAMtalk can confirm.

Slot is keen to add defensive reinforcements to his side, having seen Joel Matip leave Anfield upon the expiration of his contract earlier this summer.

A host of centre-backs have linked with Liverpool, but Brazil international Bremer is now heading the wanted list for Slot.

Bremer has impressed at Juventus since joining from city rivals Torino in the summer of 2022. Over the past two seasons, he has made 83 appearances for the club.

In fact, including his final season with Torino too, Bremer has been named in the Serie A Team of the Year three times in a row now.

Juventus are keen to keep hold of Bremer, with the defender under contract with the Bianconeri until 2028 and his release clause not kicking in until next summer.

But Liverpool are ready to test Juventus’s resolve by firming up their interest in Bremer with a big offer for the centre-back.

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If successful, it is likely Bremer would become one of Liverpool’s most expensive defenders of all time. While unlikely to surpass the £75m value of Virgil van Dijk’s move in 2018, Bremer would probably outrank Ibrahima Konate’s £36m fee from 2021 and could take the Frenchman’s place in the side’s strongest lineup too.

As Van Dijk enters the final year of his contract, but Liverpool set an asking price for their captain considered too high by some of his suitors, he could have a new partner at the back during Slot’s first season in charge of the club.

Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi has also been looked at closely by Liverpool, who are confident the England international would want to join them.

But they have now placed Bremer at the top of their wish list when it comes to their search for a reliable partner – and potential long-term successor as their leading centre-back – for Van Dijk.

At 27 – just one year older than Van Dijk was when he joined the club – Bremer is in the prime years of his career. If Liverpool get their way, he could be spending that time in the Premier League.

For now, Liverpool remain the only club in the Premier League yet to make a senior signing this summer, as Slot assesses the squad he has inherited and new sporting director Richard Hughes prepares for the next phase of their plans.