Liverpool keen to sign Marseille’s Duje Caleta-Car on deadline day
Liverpool are keen to sign two new centre-backs before the end of transfer deadline day, with Marseille’s Duje Caleta-Car identified as the ideal man to follow Preston’s Ben Davies through the door.
The Reds agreed a fee in the region of £2m for Davies on Sunday, in a deal which will send Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg in the opposite direction on loan.
However, that’s not the only fix to their defensive woes that Liverpool are plotting. According to the Daily Mail, there are plans to bring in a second centre-back, and the man at the top of the wish list is Caleta-Car.
The 24-year-old, who turned down West Ham last year because of hopes of playing in the Champions League, has impressed at the heart of a Marseille back line that boasts the fourth-best defensive record in Ligue 1.
Caleta-Car has already agreed to join Liverpool this month, but Marseille’s struggles to find a replacement have left the deal in jeopardy.
The French side have also been dealing with major protests from fans who have grown tired of the club’s current direction, and officials are wary of making things considerably worse by selling one of their top assets without any real plan.
Liverpool’s interest in Caleta-Car is also backed up by The Times, who note that the Reds are aware of Marseille’s hesitance to sell and have started looking at emergency alternatives.
Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi is also noted as a possible target. The German has just 43 minutes of Premier League action to his name this season and has not featured at all in the last five games, with Arsenal open to parting ways with him this month.
As it stands, however, Liverpool have just one centre-back lined up. 25-year-old Davies, who has six months remaining on his Preston contract, is expected to travel to Liverpool on deadline day for a medical ahead of sealing his surprise move to Anfield.
He will help cover for the short-term unavailability of Fabinho and Joel Matip, but manager Jurgen Klopp would prefer someone like Caleta-Car to be the long-term fix.