Dean Huijsen used by Liverpool in HUGE reveal

Liverpool will soon require a new central defender with Virgil van Dijk out of contract in the summer and no new agreement over a new deal.

The Dutch legend will be 34 by the time next season kicks off and even if he were to remain at Anfield for a new contract term, he won’t go on forever.

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Succession planning is necessary at this stage of Van Dijk’s career and there is even more uncertainty in the centre-back position presented by Ibrahima Konate. The French international is out of contract in 2026 and there have been overtures from Paris Saint-Germain over the prospect of a deal.

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Real Madrid are also said to be keeping tabs on Konate with the former RB Leipzig defender not exactly shying away from the speculation.

It means Liverpool’s centre-back department could soon be facing a reshuffle with the likes of Castello Lukeba and Dean Huijsen among the names mentioned as potential incomings.

Liverpool set Huijsen benchmark

Huijsen, 19, has had a sensational breakthrough season at Bournemouth having broken into the lineup around December.

The former Juventus stopper was a bargain transfer last summer with the Bianconeri desperate for money and the Spain under-21 international has gone on to significantly outperform expectations.

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Now bigger clubs - reportedly including Liverpool - are knocking at the door with Huijsen also boasting a tantalising release clause in his contract.

It’s ALSO emerged that Huijsen has been on the Reds’ radar for a while and he’s already had a significant impact on their transfer plans.

Is Van den Berg twice as good as Huijsen?

Last summer the club sold Sepp van den Berg to Brentford for around £25 million. And it’s been claimed that the Reds had Huijsen’s valuation in mind when they set the price for Van den Berg.

"Liverpool are obviously aware of Dean Huijsen and actually used his transfer from Juventus in the summer as a barometer for Van Den Berg's price point,” Liverpool correspondent for the Echo Paul Gorst told the Redmen TV.

Huijsen joined the Cherries for an initial £12.6m last summer. Does that mean Liverpool deal-makers believed Van den Berg was twice as good?

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While Van den Berg has performed decently for the Bees, there is no question who has been the more impressive in the Premier League this season. Maybe the club should have struck for Huijsen last summer when he was cheaper.

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