Liverpool hold a strong interest in Sven Botman, according to reports. The Netherlands international is currently at Lille in Ligue 1.
This comes from journalist Duncan Castles. He recently made the claim on The Transfer Window Podcast that Liverpool have opened up talks.
Castles believes Liverpool have already opened talks with the player’s agent – and he is confident a bid in January could be imminent.
The Reds apparently see the 20-year-old as a viable alternative to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez. He adds that Liverpool could take advantage of Lille’s current financial situation.
Botman’s representative is reportedly confident his client will make a January move. Transfermarkt value him at around £9 million
“Liverpool are working on a deal. That is Sven Botman, in his first season at Lille from Ajax for an initial €8million (£7million). He has been outstanding at Lille,” Castles said. “Netherlands squad, 21 next month. Tall, quick, incredibly strong one-on-one.
MORE LIVERPOOL STORIES
“They would be willing to sell the player for twice and a little bit more than the fee they paid. They have been speaking to Botman’s agent. Botman’s agent likes the sounds of the conversations and believes there is a strong possibility of a January bid.”
What RTK has to say – Will Liverpool sign Botman?
It looks like we’ll see quite a few reports like this over the next month. Liverpool’s injury crisis warrants solutions which go hand-in-hand with transfer rumours and gossip.
Many of these reports could have some validity, then. Liverpool aren’t currently blessed with options at the back, after all. Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are all injured.
The natural response is to look into the transfer market for potential solutions. The ECHO claim Liverpool want to take an alternate approach, however.
They claim that the Reds will not engage in any transfer activity over January, with Jurgen Klopp intent on developing internal solutions, as a result.
Botman isn’t the only player touted with a move to Anfield, after all. Dayot Upamecano, Ozan Kabak and Ben White have also been heavily linked in the past.
It remains to be seen what will happen in January, however. Liverpool hope their existing options will be able to provide sufficient cover, at least until the summer and possibly beyond.