Euro Paper Talk: Liverpool to offer £60m centre-back ‘starring role’ alongside Van Dijk; Leeds chasing brother of £37m Man Utd star as Raphinha replacement

Jurgen Klopp wants to complete a £60m deal for Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt and give him a starring role alongside Virgil van Dijk, while Thursday’s Euro Paper Talk claims Leeds are chasing the brother of a Manchester United star to potentially replace Raphinha.

Liverpool are reportedly offering Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt a starring role at Anfield, with a £60.4million transfer being mooted.

Corriere dello Sport recently claimed that Reds are ready to take advantage of the player’s contract situation. The 22-year-old’s current deal runs out in the summer of 2024.

And now Corriere Torino states that Jurgen Klopp wants to partner De Ligt with his Netherlands teammate Virgil van Dijk at Anfield.

The Juve man also has other admirers from England, however, in the shape of Chelsea and Manchester United.

Thomas Tuchel wants De Ligt on board after losing Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid. Meanwhile, new United boss Erik ten Hag has concerns over his side’s defensive solidity after their obvious struggles last season.

But reports from Italy claim it’s Liverpool who are ready to strike a deal this summer. That’s despite numerous reports their transfer business is already done for the summer.

The Merseysiders have already landed Rawin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay. There is also the small matter of how well Ibrahima Konate played as last season went on.

The giant defender became Klopp’s first choice to partner van Dijk ahead of Joel Matip.

And with that being the case, it remains to be seen whether Anfield chiefs are willing to splash out £60m-plus on another central defender.

Leeds United are ‘determined’ to sign forward Hamed Junior Traore, brother of Manchester United’s Amad Diallo, who is currently at