Liverpool eye £20m-rated Championship defender as Lovren replacement
Leeds United centre-back Ben White has emerged as a transfer target for Premier League leaders Liverpool, claims Football Insider.
White is on loan at Leeds after being given the chance to find regular playing time by parent club Brighton this season.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a thoroughly impressive start to the season and his displays have even caught the attention of Liverpool.
Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp blocked Dejan Lovren’s departure in the summer but the 30-year-old is expected to push for a move away in the next two transfer windows.
Lovren has dropped down to fourth choice centre-back at Anfield and was heavily linked with a move to Roma in pre-season until talks between both clubs broke down.
Liverpool signed 17-year-old Sepp van der Berg as one of only two arrivals over the summer but the teenager is not close to being considered a regular member of the first-team squad.
Klopp has instead cast his eye to the Championship and is tracking White’s progress ahead of the January transfer window.
White has started all 11 of Leeds’ league matches the centre-back impressively ranks second for the most tackles and interceptions combined in the Championship this season (62).
Given that CBs aren't substituted, and only the possibility of injury necessitates the need for another CB, 3 CBs (Van Dijk & Matip/Gomez) & Van Den Berg is good enough for the entire season. The bad luck case is when one of the three gets a long term injury just after a transfer window closes. But on the other hand, the purchase of another CB means that the progress of Gomez (and possibly, that of the purchased CB) is stifled.
@kunalroy2712 The signing of Ben White would be most likely to reach the quota for home grown players.