Liverpool are reportedly ready to offer Barcelona ￡70m for Jules Kounde as the Reds look to bolster their defence amid doubts over Ibrahima Konate’s future at the club.

Konate’s contract expires in the summer and he’s been heavily linked with a free transfer to Real Madrid at the end of the campaign; something Liverpool may not have been too?disappointed on the basis of his displays for much of this season.

There has been an uptick in his performances of late and there is said to be a fresh deal on the table for Konate to sign, but after completing the ￡60m signing of Jeremy Jacquet ahead of Chelsea in January, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes, Liverpool are also lining up Kounde as another new defender.

Kounde has been forever linked with a move to the Premier League and came very close to joining Chelsea in the summer of 2022 before snubbing the Blues and joining Barcelona.

He’s become a key figure at the Nou Camp, valued for his quality and versatility, and that’s caught the eye of the Reds chiefs, who are ‘willing to put €80m [￡70m} on the table for the French international’.

It’s thought to be an offer which ‘changes the scenario’ as cash-strapped Barcelona would reportedly ‘contemplate his departure for an amount close to that figure’, despite manager Hansi Flick ‘considering Kounde an essential player’ for his project.

A report last weekclaimed?The Premier League is a ‘great temptation’ for Kounde, who can play at right-back or in central defence, and Barcelona see the interest from Liverpool, along with Manchester United, as a way to grow his valuation from €65m to €80m.

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The 27-year-old has the quality to improve every team in world football, but Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk will be hoping Kounde will arrive to complement him and Konate in defence, as he told reporters after the Reds’ victory over Sunderland that he wants his “world-class” teammate to remain at Anfield.

“We are friends, we speak about everything,” Van Dijk said. “It’s a process and let’s see what comes out of it. It’s never that easy. We saw with my own situation last year so it’s never that easy that we can just say ‘let’s get it done’.”

“Obviously I want him to stay. He’s an important figure on the pitch. That’s what everyone sees but off the pitch as well, he’s one of the leaders.

“He’s outstanding and in my eyes, a world-class centre back. I can do only so much but it’s in the club’s hands, together with his agents and himself so let’s see what comes out of it but I have no influence otherwise on that.”