Liverpool Defensive Reshuffle: Schlotterbeck Deal and Kounde Interest
The pause is over. With the international break boxed off, Liverpool step straight back into a season that could define their next few years — on the pitch and in the transfer market.
Manchester City await in the FA Cup on Saturday. Paris Saint-Germain follow in the Champions League four days later. But in the background, the real drumbeat is about what comes next. Champions League qualification, Mohamed Salah’s looming exit, and a squad that needs reshaping without losing its edge.
And at the heart of it all: the defense.
Schlotterbeck leans toward Dortmund stay
Any Liverpool move for Nico Schlotterbeck already looks like it might be running out of road.
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reports that Borussia Dortmund have agreed the details of a new contract with the 25-year-old, with the numbers on the deal “won’t change significantly”. Dortmund are now waiting on the defender’s final approval, the process delayed by a change in sporting director, as Nils-Ole Book has just stepped in for Sebastian Kehl.
Schlotterbeck himself pushed back this week when asked about an imminent agreement that would keep him at the club until 2031.
“I must clearly deny that. Unfortunately, we haven't reached that point,” he said when quizzed on talk of an extension.
The picture behind the scenes looks different. Dortmund are ready, the framework is set, and the ball is at Schlotterbeck’s feet.
If Liverpool had him on any kind of shortlist, the window to act is narrow. A fresh long-term deal in Germany would all but close the door for this summer and likely drive any future fee higher.
It also comes down to Anfield’s own plans. Ibrahima Konaté is in line for discussions over a new contract, and if the Frenchman commits, the urgency to bring in another central defender eases. A renewed Konaté, with Virgil van Dijk still anchoring the back line and young options developing behind them, changes the equation.
Liverpool may decide their bigger problems lie elsewhere.
Kounde monitored as right-back issues mount
The same cannot be said about right-back.
Liverpool’s defensive focus could shift wide, with Barcelona’s Jules Kounde emerging as a serious option under consideration — but not just for them.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Liverpool are one of three Premier League clubs tracking the 25-year-old closely, with Manchester City and Chelsea also in the frame. The interest is framed around a desire to make a “strong defensive signing” at full-back, after the club moved for the more attack-minded Jeremie Frimpong last summer.
Kounde, primarily a central defender by trade, has spent long stretches of his Barcelona career operating on the right. That versatility is part of the appeal. He signed a new contract last summer running to 2030, yet the report suggests Barcelona could still listen if a major offer lands on the table.
The figure being floated is stark: €80 million, around $93 million. At that price, it is suggested Barcelona would find it “difficult to refuse”.
For Liverpool, the logic is clear. The situation at right-back is becoming increasingly fragile. Conor Bradley’s fitness issues have stalled his momentum. Frimpong’s own injury problems keep him from providing a reliable solution. The knock-on effect is that Dominik Szoboszlai has been asked to plug gaps he was never signed to fill.
He is too important in midfield to be a makeshift full-back every few weeks.
Kounde, in contrast, offers a different profile: defensively solid, comfortable in one-on-one duels, and able to slide inside when Liverpool build play, mirroring the kind of hybrid roles that have reshaped the position in recent years.
The question is whether Liverpool are prepared to enter a bidding war at that level, especially in a summer when Salah’s departure will demand serious investment in the attack as well.
The games against City and PSG will dominate the headlines in the coming days. But as Liverpool fight to stay at Europe’s top table, the outlines of their next back line are already being sketched — whether in Dortmund’s boardroom or Barcelona’s.
