Liverpool are reportedly interested in bringing Ben White to the club this summer.
The centre-back has been on the Reds’ radar for some time and shone as Brighton condemned the champions to back-to-back home league defeats for the first time since 2012.
According to Football Insider, White once again caught the eye of Jurgen Klopp and assistant Pepijn Linders, who took particular note of his mobility, distribution and calmness on the ball.
The Reds are understood to have been monitoring White since October 2019, when he was starring on loan for Leeds on their way to the Championship title. Leeds tried to sign him permanently but had three bids, the last worth £30 million, turned down.
The 23-year-old was named in last season’s PFA Championship team of the year and made his league debut for Brighton, whose academy he joined at 16 after being released by Southampton, in their 2020/21 opener against Chelsea.
Liverpool have been devastated by defensive injuries this season and had to use their 18th different centre-back pairing of the campaign in Saturday’s Merseyside derby loss to Everton after Jordan Henderson was forced off with a hamstring problem.
Having decided against signing a new centre-back last summer, despite the sale of Dejan Lovren to Zenit, the Reds are almost certain to do business on that front in the next window unless Ozan Kabak, currently on loan from Schalke, really makes his mark between now and the end of the season. They have the option to buy the Turkish international for an initial fee of £18 million, according to Sky Sports.
With senior centre-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all having missed most of the season so far, Liverpool have seen their attempt to retain the title falter, leaving them sixth in the table after 25 games, 16 points off leaders Manchester City having played a game more – and 33 points worse off than at the same stage last year.
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