Guehi to Liverpool breakdown offers nine other centre-back options

Including a Liverpool-linked Crystal Palace player and their potential replacement, here are the 10 best centre-backs available to sign this summer.

10) Ousmane Diomande (Sporting)

The Ivorian has previously been linked with Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham, but looks set for FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.

Jarell Quansah’s move from Liverpool to Bayer Leverkusen could trigger a transfer domino effect, with the Premier League champions likely to step up their pursuit of Palace captain Marc Guehi. If he leaves, Oliver Glasner has to get his replacement right. Diomande would be a coup and a safe option in that regard.

READ: Palace should be ‘genuinely astounded’ by Arsenal, Liverpool part-exchange offers for Eze and Guehi

9) Cristhian Mosquera (Valencia)

Available for around £17million, Mosquera is only 21 and out of contract next year, prompting Arsenal to make an offer to sign him this summer. Valencia said no, but personal terms are already in place for the Spaniard to move to the Emirates.

The one-cap Spanish international played in 37 of Valencia’s 38 La Liga matches last season. In the one game he missed, Carlos Corberan’s side lost 7-1 to Barcelona. He probably knew what he was doing with that 94th-minute suspension-clinching yellow card the week before.

Mosquera is one of the most promising central defenders in Europe and it’s no surprise to see Arsenal interested. He’d be outstanding right-footed cover for William Saliba.

8) Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta)

There are question marks over two things: Scalvini’s availability and Scalvini’s injury record. One report from Italy says he is ‘unsellable’, but Fabrizio Romano claims Newcastle United want him and ‘more clubs are keen’, with Atalanta receiving ‘initial approaches’. That certainly sounds like he’s ‘sellable’ — but only for big, big money.

The 21-year-old tore his ACL last June and was restricted to a mere eight appearances across all competitions in 2024/25, starting five times. After recovering from the serious knee injury, the young Italian was eased back in before suffering a shoulder injury in December, missing two games. He then injured the same shoulder in January and didn’t feature again for the rest of the season. That’s 42 games missed for Atalanta since the ACL injury 13 months ago.

The potential is still there, but you can understand the reluctance to break the bank. If he wasn’t so unlucky with injuries, he’d be a lot higher here.

7) Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal)

After a season-ending injury to Gabriel Magalhaes, Kiwior came into the Arsenal starting XI and did pretty well, staking a claim for a big-money transfer this summer – or more minutes for the Gunners in the Premier League.

Knowing Arsenal, they’ll struggle to get £30m, but really ought to be demanding closer to £45m, especially if the aforementioned Quansah cost Leverkusen £35m. The fact Kiwior is left-footed surely adds £10m to his value too. Apparently that’s the world we live in now.

6) Antonio Silva (Benfica)

Chelsea and Manchester United are among the clubs to be linked with the Benfica defender, who apparently “wants Juventus”, per his agent Jorge Mendes.

Benfica are known to be difficult negotiators, and talks over Silva will likely be no exception. He’s expected to be the next big-money sale after ex-Red Devils youngster Alvaro Carreras joins Real Madrid.

Still only 21, Silva has played 140 times for Benfica. Extraordinary stuff.

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5) Goncalo Inacio (Sporting)

There’s a £51m release clause in Inacio’s Sporting contract and Manchester United have been linked for a while – long before Ruben Amorim left the Portuguese club for Old Trafford. Amorim would surely push for his signing, but United are prioritising other positions and don’t have the financial flexibility to go big on a centre-back.

Separating Inacio, Silva and Diomande wasn’t easy. I don’t watch Portuguese football too often. For my sins. But you don’t need to watch Sporting every week to know this boy is very good. With United surely out of the picture, it’s unclear where Inacio will end up. Maybe Liverpool will get involved if they can’t prise Guehi away from Selhurst Park.

4) Loic Bade (Sevilla)

There is some bias here, believe it or not. Bade was identified by yours truly as a centre-back for the future when he was playing in Ligue 2 with Le Havre, so it’s absolutely imperative that he gets a big transfer and becomes recognised as one of the best defenders in Europe.

Bade did get a decent move to Rennes for £15m when he was 21, but it didn’t really happen for him there. Then came the bizarre Nottingham Forest loan that lasted four months and produced zero appearances. He’s found a home in Seville, though, and has been impressing for them since joining in January 2023, straight after leaving Forest.

The French international helped Sevilla win the Europa League in his first six months and signed permanently for around £10m. He’s been a top signing and is ready for a proper crack at the Premier League.

3) Carlos Lukeba (RB Leipzig)

Real Madrid are one of the clubs being linked with the 22-year-old, which does a lot of the talking for us, really.

There are high hopes for Lukeba, who hopefully doesn’t follow in the footsteps of another French Leipzig defender, Mohamed Simakan, by moving to Saudi Arabia.

Newcastle clearly want a new centre-back but could be put off by Lukeba’s left-footedness, with a long-term Sven Botman partner the priority, though the Dutchman has proved to be very injury-prone. Liverpool could emerge as a very serious option.

He has a €90m (£77.5m) release clause, which surely won’t be triggered this summer. It’ll be interesting to see Leipzig’s stance if offers come in.

2) Edmond Tapsoba (Bayer Leverkusen)

On a list full of children, Tapsoba stands out as an old fogey, aged 26. There are younger options, but there aren’t many better. Plus he has the benefit of entering his prime years having proven himself in a wonderful team.

The Burkina Faso defender played 46 times for Leverkusen in 2023/24, when they lost just once all season, in the Europa League final against Atalanta.

He featured nine times in the Champions League and is clearly good enough to make the step up, if he so desires. Leverkusen are still a very good side, even without Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong; we wouldn’t blame him for staying.

Transfer speculation has significantly died down, but all it takes is one Fabrizio Romano post on X, folks, and then every club is interested.

1) Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)

You can argue about Guehi’s ‘availability’, but with a year left on his contract and interest from Premier League champions Liverpool, Crystal Palace should be open to selling their captain for the right price. Losing him on a free would be disastrous in the eyes of many, though there is a case for keeping him ahead of a Europa League campaign. Is an extra year worth more than a potential £50m transfer fee?

There’s no real competition for Guehi here, in my opinion. He’s absolutely brilliant. He’s the future of England’s defence and deserves to be playing for a Champions League club.

READ NEXT: Palace should be ‘genuinely astounded’ by Arsenal, Liverpool part-exchange offers for Eze and Guehi

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