Liverpool have recently sent scouts to Germany to watch a highly rated young defender.
Jurgen Klopp has already added Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay in this window, as well as letting several players leave the club in what has been a busy summer for the Reds.
But according to BILD, Liverpool are now chasing a centre-back to add to their list of incomings.
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The Merseyside club sent staff to watch Hamburg defender Mario Vuskovic take on Braunschweig at the weekend.
The German outlet claims that the Croatian has been scouted by the likes of Wolfsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Liverpool, Burnley and an unnamed Italian club.
The report also suggests that the player is considered a ‘jewel’.
The 20-year-old defender made 29 appearances for Hamburg last season and was initially at the German club as part of a two-year-loan deal from Croatian side Hadjuk Split.
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The deal involved an option to buy on a permanent basis, which Hamburg decided to take up in March.
It’s understood that Vuskovic has also been the subject of Premier League interest from Brentford and Wolves in the past, both of whom are still keen on the player.
Despite the substantial interest from a number of clubs, BILD state that no contact has been made yet with Hamburg, who view him as a key part of their team looking to return to the Bundesliga.
Vuskovic has made 13 appearances for the Croatian under-21 team, and will be looking to break into their first team in time for this winter’s World Cup in Qatar.
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A move to a club at a higher level could help him do this.
Liverpool are currently stacked in the central defensive position, with Klopp having the likes of Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez at his disposal.
This makes a move for Vuskovic in this window unlikely, but he may be a player they continue to monitor as they look for long-term successors to some of the aforementioned defenders.
Alfie Culshaw