The Liverpool FC transfer rumour mill has been in overdrive lately, as the club’s centre-back situation has provided ample fodder.
Two centre-backs plying their trade in the German Bundesliga have popped
up as of late: Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano and Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck.
Upamecano, like his compatriot and former Leipzig teammate Ibrahima Konaté, is a free agent in the summer. At the same time, Schlotterbeck will have a year left on his contract in the summer of 2026.
Journalist David Lynch, speaking on the Sports Mole podcast, went into detail on the links, noting the changing dynamics in Liverpool’s backline:
“There have actually been a couple links to a couple specific players over the course of the international break… Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck as well as Bayern Munich’s Upamecano.”
“Schlotterbeck makes a lot more sense for Liverpool, and he’s the better player as well. Upamecano’s got mistakes in him.
“Liverpool might see it as an opportunity to develop him, but there are weaknesses there in Upamecano that would get exposed regularly in the Premier League.
“Schlotterbeck, on the other hand, is someone they definitely do like and have watched. Whether that becomes anything or not, we’ll have to wait and see. That one might [be more] for the summer rather than January.”
“You can see it in watching Liverpool play this season, that they need a passer in central defence. That wasn’t previously the case that you needed two brilliant passers at centre-half.”
“They had one in Virgil, and they also had Trent at right-back, who was an unbelievable progressor of the ball. Andy Robertson was quite underrated in that regard, but the point is they didn’t necessarily need [two elite passers at centre-back].”
“But now they’ve lost Trent, now that Robertson’s not in the team as frequently, there’s a real lack of progression from that back four, and it’s becoming a big issue. When teams sit on Liverpool and they press high, they’re really struggling to find ways around that.”
Teams are definitely sitting off on Konaté this season and forcing him to make the pass this season, and it’s noticeable. Additionally, Liverpool’s interest in Dean Hujsen this summer, the failed chase of Marc Guehi, and now Schlotterbeck would suggest that a centre-back comfortable with the ball at his feet is more of a priority now. As a Dortmund fan, I’d say Schlotterbeck is the better player than Upamecano, who has a reputation for being mentally fragile, and I wouldn’t mind Liverpool making that signing at all.
