Contact made: Liverpool plot bid for £33.7m-rated gem, he could be their new Van Dijk - opinion

Liverpool have reportedly made contact with Braga’s Portuguese centre-back David Carmo.

That’s according to O Jogo, via Sports Witness, who claim that Liverpool are once against showing interest, with the 22-year-old expected to leave the Liga Portugal outfit this summer.

The latest report states that Braga are “very likely” to sell and that the left-footed centre-back “has already been sounded out by several Premier League clubs, including Liverpool.”

The Anfield side are said to be “following closely” as a result of Jurgen Klopp’s “recommendation.”

Braga’s chief Antonio Salvador is reportedly not interested in a sale and has stated that the clubs who are interested in acquiring Carmo’s services will need to activate his €40 million (£33.7m) release clause.

Klopp tried to sign  Carmo throughout last year’s January transfer window, in a deal that would have seen the Braga starlet join the Reds on loan, with a €20 million (£16.8m) option to buy.

Braga rejected their offer and about a month later Carmo suffered a nasty injury.

Carmo has started just 29% of Braga’s games this season, thanks to the ankle injury that sat him on the sidelines for 351 days.

Since his return, he has played 14 games for Braga in all competitions – including the 3-1 Europa League loss against Rangers, in which Carmo scored his side’s only goal.

In comparison to Van Dijk, Carmo has notched up some defensive numbers that, whilst similar to Van Dijk’s, just give him the edge over the Netherlands international. Carmo’s 0.7 tackles per game out do Van Dijk’s o.4 tackles per game, though both share the same clearances per game metric with an average of three.

In possession, it is an entirely different story, with Van Dijk’s 70 passes per game placing