Liverpool rekindle interest in relegated centre-back after failing to sign him in January 2021

LFC Transfer News: Liverpool show interest in signing Southampton centre-back Duje Caleta-Car

Liverpool are believed to be interested in signing Southampton centre-back Duje Caleta-Car.

The Croatia international moved to Southampton last summer from Olympique de Marseille but his debut season in England has turned into a nightmare. The Saints have been relegated from the league.

They will play in the Championship next season. And this could be the perfect chance for Jurgen Klopp to sign the player he couldn’t nearly two and a half years ago.

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes.net, Caleta-Car seemingly has a €10million valuation and is on Liverpool’s radar once. It would be a surprise to see a player of the 26-year-old’s calibre play in the second division.

What should we do?

He himself admitted that a move to Liverpool failed in January 2021. Speaking in an interview with HampshirLive (as covered by TheKopTimes), Caleta-Car said in November last year:

“It happened really fast. You know, they get a lot of injured players – central defenders – so my agent called me and said to me Liverpool is there. They are something different and I wanted to join them because Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world.

“But it didn’t happen. There was something between Marseille and Liverpool but I don’t want to go into what happened. But now I’m here [at Southampton] and really enjoying it here in England.”

It’s never a bad idea to have five quality centre-backs. It allows us to switch systems and provide greater depth when injuries inevitably trouble the Reds.

Joel Matip and Joe Gomez have notably had fitness issues in recent issues and the latter also doubles up as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s backup at right-back at times. It could be better for Caleta-Car to battle for playing time at Liverpool than play in the second tier.

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• Liverpool target Moises Caicedo to focus on Brighton & Hove Albion until season ends

The aforementioned valuation isn’t bad for a 26-year-old who is a full international for Croatia and can only get better with age. The report mentions that there could be more clubs for Caleta-Car and in that scenario, if the price drives up, then perhaps Liverpool can rethink their approach- If not, then this is a no-brainer.