Liverpool take next step for one of the BEST wonderkids

Liverpool have been looking at potential defensive recruits for several years now.

The last defender the club bought was Ibrahima Konate, almost seven transfer windows ago in the summer of 2021.

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And while the Frenchman's transfer can be looked at as a success, it can also be looked at as a bargain, as the club picked him up from RB Leipzig for just £36m.

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In trying to find a deal as perfect as their last, Liverpool have been overtly cautious with the defence. Jarrell Quansah and Conor Bradley have been promoted from the academy, but no one in the transfer market has managed to fit the profile the club is looking for.

However, in search of a new left-back to replace at least one of Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas, the Reds seem to have found a perfect match in a target who is young and skilled in featuring as a centre-back and a full-back. This week, the club's scouts visited him.

Liverpool repay Jorrell Hato with a visit of their own

At the end of January, Hato was spotted by a number of Liverpool fans in the stands at Anfield, watching the Reds dismantle Ipswich Town in the Premier League by four goals to one.

One of the players' friends had posted on social media that he was there and immediately speculation arose that Liverpool's executives had invited him there to watch his future teammates.

Instead, it emerged a few days later that he was there because he was invited to attend by his fellow countryman Ryan Gravenberch while he was on a few days break from Ajax. He confirmed that no representative of the club had spoken to him and that he was only visiting for pleasure rather than business.

However, the player's very appearance sparked a more long-term and sensible dialogue about why couldn't he have been watching his future teammates.

Hato is only 18 years old, but he has already impressed in the Eredivisie across his short career, his skillset matches the type of player that Liverpool are after and if he were to join then he would become part of a significant Dutch contingent on Merseyside, joining Virgil Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Arne Slot and Gravenberch.

According to a new report from TBR Football, Liverpool's official stance is very much in line with that of the fans, why shouldn't he be a player on the club's radar?

Journalist Graeme Bailey has confirmed that Liverpool and Chelsea's representatives were in attendance in Amsterdam last week when the young full-back delivered two impressive performances in wins against Galatasaray and Feyenoord.

Despite his young age, he has already made over 100 appearances for Ajax and if Liverpool are looking for a young talent who can cover a few different positions then there is little reason to look any further than Hato.

Of course, he is not the only player on the club's radar for the left-back position. Milos Kerkez at Bournemouth is one to keep an eye on, as is Girona's Miguel Gutierrez, but both are specialist left-backs rather than malleable players.

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With Joel Matip yet to be replaced after he departed from the club last season, it seems reasonable to suggest that a player like Hato might be in the running regardless of whether a specialist full-back joins the club, but it seems as though Liverpool are taking an interest in plenty of different targets this winter. We'll just have to wait and see who they decide to pounce on.

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