With former Cameroon veteran defender Joel Matip leaving Anfield and defensive leader Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk approaching the end of his career at the age of 33, rumours of securing a new centre-back have been rife at Liverpool.
Various defender names emerged, mainly left-backs such as Goncalo Inácio, William Pacho and Piero Hincapié, but Liverpool did not bring in any new players in the final line during the summer transfer window.
Meanwhile, with England defender Joe Gomez reportedly wanting to leave, strengthening at centre-back is a high priority.
According to Football Insider, Liverpool are interested in 22-year-old defender Jarrad Branthwaite from local rivals Everton, who are also based on Merseyside, and have him on their list for the future.
The young centre-back, who was linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer, progressed rapidly during a loan spell at PSV Eindhoven and was a regular in the starting line-up last season, making 41 appearances and scoring three goals.
Initially he appeared to struggle with the speed of the Premier League, but once he got used to it, he became a consistent performer at the heart of the team and, despite his height of 1.95m, it is no surprise that Liverpool have their eyes on him, as he is good with his feet and can play on the left side of the centre-back position.
However, reinforcements from a substantial local rival will be extremely difficult to come by. Even if the interest is genuine, negotiations are likely to be difficult from a mutual standpoint.
If Everton are relegated from the Premier League, which is a possibility, a battle between the mega-clubs would break out, and Liverpool may not be financially able to touch them.
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