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Young Midtjylland defender Ousmane Diao has stated his wish to play alongside Hugo Ekitike later on in his career, hinting that he is keen on a move to Liverpool.
Diao, 21, came up against Ekitike last season, when Midtjylland faced Ekitike's former club Frankfurt in the Europa League league phase.
Frankfurt won the game 2-1, and although Ekitike did not score on the night, he proved a handful for Diao to deal with. Diao was asked in an interview with Footmercato to name the toughest opponent of his career to date, and named Ekitike.
“Last year, against Frankfurt, there were a lot of good players like Ekitike, Marmoush, etc,” he said. “But Hugo Ekitike was particularly difficult. Honestly, I would like to play with him in the future (laughs). His movement is incredible. He’s fast, technical… he’s very strong!”
Liverpool is in need of a new center-back, after Giovanni Leoni suffered what is expected to be a season-ending injury.
On deadline day, it looked as though the Reds might have five senior center-backs to choose from over the course of the campaign, but they now only have three until January at the very earliest.
Leoni's injury combined with Crystal Palace's U-turn on Marc Guehi has left Liverpool light at the back, and a new center-back is virtually guaranteed to arrive in 2026. It's not clear whether that will happen in January or in the summer, and we likely won't know the club's intentions until much closer to the winter window.
There has not been anything to suggest that Diao is currently on Liverpool's transfer radar, but it sounds as though he hopes that will change in the future.
Meanwhile, reports in Germany say that Liverpool could make a move to sign Nico Schlotterbeck from Borussia Dortmund.
Bild says that Liverpool views the 25-year-old center-back as a possible long-term replacement for Virgil van Dijk, who is 34 years old.
Schlotterbeck is contracted to Dortmund until 2027, but it is apparently unlikely that he will extend his stay with the Bundesliga club, despite Dortmund being keen to tie him to fresh terms until 2030. Liverpool has reportedly held initial talks with the player's representatives.
The Reds are keen to sign a new center-back after missing out on Guehi. Guehi is set to become available as a free agent next year, as is Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano, who Liverpool has also been linked with, and Schlotterbeck can now seemingly be added to that list of targets.
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