Liverpool keen on £41m-rated award nominee as potential long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk | OneFootball

Liverpool are reportedly looking towards the Bundesliga for a prospective long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk.

The Reds captain will turn 34 in July and is now into the final four months of his contract at Anfield, with speculation continuing to abound as to whether or not he’ll still be at the club for the start of next season.

Ibrahima Konate (who arrived from the German top flight four years ago) is already in situ as LFC’s centre-back leader whenever the Dutchman departs, and Richard Hughes seems to be turning his attention to a youngster in that position for the summer transfer window.

Liverpool add Koulierakis to transfer wish list

According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool have added Wolfsburg defender Konstantinos Koulierakis to their wish list for long-term replacements for Van Dijk.

The 21-year-old is also sought-after by Crystal Palace and Aston Villa in the Premier League and has even attracted interest from European giants such as Real Madrid and AC Milan.

The Greece international seems open to the possibility of offers from elsewhere, although his current club are likely to demand a fee in the region of €40m to €50m (£33m-£41.3m) for him.

(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

What qualities could Koulierakis bring to Liverpool?

It’s no surprise that Liverpool and several other clubs are showing an interest in Koulierakis, who’s been nominated for the Bundesliga’s Rookie of the Month award for February, with Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise also up for that particular accolade.

The 21-year-old has openly stated that he relishes the physical aspect of defending, and he won an impressive 63% of his duels for Wolfsburg over the past month (Bundesliga.com).

He also carries a threat going forward, ranking among the top 4% of centre-backs in Europe’s five main leagues over the past year for assists per 90 minutes, the top 10% for shot-creating actions per game and the top 15% for shots per match (FBref).

Ideally Van Dijk won’t leave Liverpool in the summer and, if the Reds were to sign Koulierakis, that he’d have time to learn from the Dutch master before eventually going on to take his place in our backline.

Fabrizio Romano recently outlined that centre-back is a priority position for the LFC hierarchy for the next transfer window, so it’s plausible that they could pursue the Greek youngster over the coming weeks and months.

He’s a name worth keeping an eye on for the remainder of this season to see if he might look the part for Liverpool in the future.