Liverpool have one of the best center back partnerships in world football between Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, but it’s time to add more talent to the pool, especially with VVD getting closer to 35. Here are five center back targets the Reds should consider signing in the winter 2025 transfer window.
Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton
Manchester United were in hot pursuit of Jarrad Branthwaite for much of 2024, but they ultimately balked on the Everton star because of a 70 million pound asking price.
Instead, Manchester United sign Leny Yoro for 60 million euros from Lille, paying a premium price to make sure Yoro chose them over PSG and Liverpool. By not waiting for Real Madrid in 2025, Yoro had already chosen against his dream club and the favorites to sign him.
With Branthwaite still on the market, Liverpool can be the ones to sign the most talented young center back in English football. At just 21 years of age, Branthwaite put together a special 2023/24 season for an otherwise poor Everton, averaging 3.3 tackles and interceptions per game with 3 goals scored.
Branthwaite can be the heir to Virgil van Dijk’s thrown and is a legitimately top-class center back even as a U23 player. But if Everton were asking for 70 million pounds from Manchester United for their most prized player, then you’d have to stagger at the likely price they’d quote their biggest rivals.
Therefore, Branthwaite may not be a realistic option for Liverpool, but he’s so good at such a young age that it would be akin to malpractice for Michael Edwards to NOT make at least a well-intentioned effort to sign him.
Gleison Bremer, Juventus
Manchester United also pushed to sign Gleison Bremer throughout the 2023/24 season, but their pursuit of the best defender in Serie A in the 2021/22 season was always going to be nothing more than wistful thinking.
Bremer is locked in with Juve through the 2028/29 season after signing a contract extension with the Bianconeri, and he is one of their most important players in the prime of his career at the age of 27.
Still, if there’s any shot at Bremer being available, Liverpool would be wise to show interest in one of the world’s most valuable center backs and one of the best players there is at man-marking strikers.
There isn’t a striker strong enough or fast enough to get the better of Bremer in a battle of athletes, and Bremer is an intelligent player off the ball who knows how to spot a striker’s little tricks with their runs.
On the ball, Bremer is average at worst and can come up with a key goal or two over the course of a season. Juventus have been demanding a king’s ransom for the Brazilian, so Liverpool may be better off looking elsewhere if the fee remains at or above 70 million euros.
Update: After writing this section, Bremer suffered a torn ACL. I wish him a full and swift recovery. He should remain a Liverpool transfer target despite the severity of the injury, because his quality is obvious.
Alessandro Buongiorno, Napoli
Alessandro Buongiorno is fresh off a big move this summer, as he signed with Napoli from Torino after succeeding Gleison Bremer as the next great Serie A center back to come from the club.
Last season, Buongiorno was the best center back in the Italian top flight, making a name for himself with plenty of interest from around Serie A and even the Premier League after averaging over two interceptions per game as one of the best all-around central defenders in Europe.
In 2024/25, Buongiorno has picked up where he left off under Antonio Conte for Napoli, who have immediately resumed their status as Scudetto contenders under the serial title winning coach.
Buongiorno moved to Napoli for 35 million euros in the summer, so while his price tag from the Partenopei would be significantly higher, the 25-year-old Buongiorno could actually be cheaper than Bremer – and, statistically speaking, he is better.
Nathan Zeze, Nantes
Liverpool do already have two world-class starting central defenders in Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, so instead of spending over 50 million euros on an established star, the Reds may be better served spending half of that price on a young center back who could become as good as, say, Konate.
Nathan Zeze is a litte-known Ligue 1 center back, but the French league is filled with prospects just waiting to become big-time transfer targets on the open market.
Nobody knew who Leny Yoro was last year at this time, and he ended up moving to Manchester United for 60 million euros with virtually every big club keen to sign him after he established himself as arguably the best center back in Ligue 1 as an 18-year-old.
Only 19, Zeze flashed some potential last season for Nantes, and to start the 2024/25 campaign, he’s been legitimately one of the best players in all of Ligue 1 with an average of 1.5 tackles, 2.5 interceptions, and 7.3 clearances per game while never being dribbled past through four games.
That’s way too small of a sample size to sign him just yet, but Liverpool should have the 19-year-old defender on their radar. Because those numbers are so impressive that they are eye-catching at 19 in a top-five league, even if it’s only been four games.
Zeze could be the next special center back prospect to come out of Ligue 1, and Nantes knew he was a real talent all along, given they were giving him starts as early as when he was 17.
Abdukodir Khusanov, Lens
Another intriguing young center back to watch in Ligue 1, Uzbekistan international Abdukodir Khusanov has put up solid numbers so far in the 2024/25 season, even if they aren’t quite as spectacular as Zeze’s.
Khusanov started nine games in Ligue 1 for Lens last season and was actually better than Zeze with more than three combined tackles and interceptions per game for the upstarts.
This season, he’s at 1.4 tackles and 3.1 interceptions per 90 through six appearances while being dribbled past just 0.2 times per 90. Those are world-class numbers to start the new season, and given his solid statistics in 2023/24, the 20-year-old could be well on his way to becoming the next great Ligue 1 center back.
Liverpool know that France is rife with top talent, especially defensive, and they would be wise to add Khusanov to Zeze as high-upside, potentially high-performing U21 center backs who could be signed on the cheap in the winter 2025 transfer window – provided the remain tip-top secrets.
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The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.