Liverpool keen on ‘very fast’ defender Man City sold for £4.3m amid Schmadtke connection

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Liverpool are turning to Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura as a potential option to boost Jurgen Klopp’s options at the back.

The January transfer window is now open but this could be a fairly quiet month for Liverpool.

We aren’t expecting to see Liverpool throw money around this month even with a Premier League title challenge on the cards.

Liverpool may look at centre back options though, with Joel Matip now facing a spell on the sidelines.

Jurgen Klopp still has Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah at his disposal, as well as Joe Gomez, who is currently filling in at left back.

The Reds may have targets in mind though and one new name has emerged over the last 24 hours…

Liverpool interested in Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura

Fabrizio Romano now reports that Liverpool have been scouting Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ko Itakura on multiple occasions.

Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in Itakura with boss Ange Postecoglou known to be a big fan of the former Manchester City defender.

Postecoglou knows the Japanese market well and wanted to bring Itakura to Celtic during his time in charge of the Bhoys.

Tottenham now seemingly face competition from Liverpool with Itakura on the radar either for this month or in the summer.

Itakura emerged in Japan with Kawasaki Frontale and impressed on loan at Vegalta Sendai in 2018.

The 26-year-old joined City in 2019 but spent his time out on loan at Groningen and Schalke before being sold to Gladbach in 2022.

Gladbach paid just €5million (£4.3million) to sign Itakura and he now appears to be on Liverpool’s radar as they consider handing him a real Premier League chance.

This would again see Liverpool shop in the Bundesliga market having landed Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch over the summer.

Sporting director Jorg Schmadtke knows the Bundesliga market well and he has seen midfielder Endo emerge as a cult hero in-waiting at Anfield.

Itakura is a teammate of Endo with the Japanese national team and they could end up joining forces at Anfield if Schmadtke and Klopp make a move.

We must also point out that Gladbach’s sporting director is Schmadtke’s son Nils, so there is a real connection to Liverpool with Itakura now becoming a target.

Itakura has been hailed as ‘very fast’ by Dutch analyst Hans Kraay Jr and is now a name to keep close tabs on as Liverpool consider January transfers.