A new centre-back is COMING to Liverpool

A new centre-back is coming to Liverpool by the looks of things.

The defence is an area where Richard Hughes absolutely needs to fortify Arne Slot's options. Right now the Dutchman is working with a very limited number of players actually available to him.

With Giovanni Leoni's season ending injury, the only centre-backs Slot can rely on are Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk. Joe Gomez seems to be struggling with perpetual fitness problems, and Slot doesn't seem comfortable promoting from the club's academy either.

This has meant Liverpool's centre-backs playing a lot of minutes. Konate also being given a lot of responsibility, which is not ideal considering he has an expiring contract at the end of the season.

Long-term the reality is that even in the club's academy there aren't that many centre-backs. Wellity Lucky is a talent but he probably needs a loan spell. As does Amara Nallo.

Beyond them, there's Carter Pinnington, and then we are looking at U18 centre-backs like Prince Kobe Cisse.

So the club's depth in total is extremely depleted. It's why Liverpool need a change. And it looks like change is on the way.

As per This is Anfield Liverpool had a centre-back trialist at the club participate in an U21 friendly game at the AXA training centre-back on Saturday.

This trialist presumably has been training with Liverpool in the past week, and now got the opportunity to showcase his talent in a game environment.

Liverpool won the game 2-0 against Salford City's academy and the identity of the centre-back has not been revealed.

Right now without any other clues it's difficult to guess who the player might have been. Presumably with most leagues across the world still active right now it is unlikely to be a centre-back currently playing in senior football.

It's possible that the centre-back in question might have been a player in the process of being released at academy level in England, sometimes clubs let their young players with an expiring contract go on trial elsewhere.

It's also possible that the centre-back is a free agent. The most notable free agent on the market right now who is a centre-back is Takehiro Tomiyasu, who was released by Arsenal in the summer.

Other theories could include players from different continents. Liverpool had Sidy Barhama Ndiaye on a trial in the summer from Senegal.

The trialist could be from an African or South American country with a permission to travel on a trial to Liverpool from their current club or academy.

This is common practise and something Liverpool have always done. Although it's very rare that these trialists are named in the public eye.

Nonetheless, it's definitely something to keep an eye on. It could just mean that a new centre-back is on his way to Liverpool in the January transfer window.