All the way back in the pre-history of January of this year, with Liverpool struggling through a defensive injury crisis that was limiting head coach Arne Slot’s options at both centre half and right back, the Reds were linked with a move for on-loan defender Lutsharel Geertruida.
Slot had coached Geertruida at Feyenoord before the player moved to RB Leipzig in the summer of 2024. He then joined Sunderland on loan last summer, where he made 30 appearances and was deployed as an option at both centre
half and right back, though he was never a nailed-on starter.
While a 25-year-old Dutch defender who had been loaned out by Leipzig and wasn’t lighting things up while on loan at Sunderland might not have made for the most exciting transfer, for a side needing depth it wasn’t that difficult to understand why Slot in particular might want him.
However, when January ended and he didn’t arrive we didn’t hear much more about it, and now that Slot has been let go by Liverpool and Andoni Iraola brought in to replace him it was probably safe to assume that the Reds wouldn’t be returning for him. That has now been confirmed.
With Liverpool appearing out of the picture as expected—despite personal terms agreed with the player back in January before the Reds decided not to go through with the deal—there is talk that Sunderland could trigger his £18M purchase option and sign Geertruida permanently.
