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Liverpool has reportedly identified a La Liga defender as a possible replacement for Ibrahima Konate, who could leave Liverpool for free next summer. Konate is out of contract at the end of the season, and he has been linked with a possible free transfer to Real Madrid.
A report by Spanish outlet Fichajes says that Sporting Lisbon center-back Ousmane Diomande has emerged as Liverpool's favored replacement for Konate.
It is reported that Diomande "stands out for his decisiveness, his ability to read the game, and his ability to integrate into the attack," with the Reds turning to the 21-year-old after a deal to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace fell through on deadline day.
Liverpool could face competition from Chelsea for the youngster after Levi Colwill sustained a serious knee injury.
Meanwhile, Liverpool is unlikely to have a free run at Guehi next year despite the Palace captain coming agonisingly close to securing his dream move to Anfield last month.
Despite Guehi's clear willingness to move to Anfield, the fact that he will be available on a free transfer next year could tempt a number of other big players to the table, including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Guehi spoke about his failed move to Anfield last week, and explained why he has seemingly been able to bounce back from the disappointment with ease.
Guehi thought he had secured the transfer he had been waiting for all summer when Liverpool and Palace agreed a fee on deadline day, only for Palace to pull the plug on the deal at the 11th hour over Oliver Glasner's concern that his club captain leaving would leave the Eagles too light in defense.
"The sun goes up, the sun comes down. Life goes on," Guehi said. "That's my mindset, and if you adopt that mindset in most things, you just get on with life and move on.
"Fortunately for me I'm at a football club that has helped me and given me so much. So it does make it that much easier."
Asked by TNT Sports what helped him cope with the situation, Guehi added: "Having my family there the whole time, friends, people that have always been there for me, and then the football club.
"People that you come in to work with every single day, staff, team-mates, (they are) always there. So when they're joking and laughing and smiling, it just makes it easy, to be honest.
"It's been really, really good in that sense."
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