“Bit Of An Edge” – David Lynch On Potential Liverpool Advantage In Race For PL ‘Gem’ | OneFootball

By James Cranford

Destiny awaits Liverpool this weekend, with the Reds needing just one point from their fixture against Spurs to seal a record-equalling 20th league title.

Unfancied at the start of the season, Arne Slot’s side have been the dominant force in this year’s Premier League. A party atmosphere is expected in Anfield and throughout the city, with Kopites desperate to celebrate the victory after being denied the privilege five years ago.

The expected triumph would cap what has been a great month for the club, following the news that both Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk have extended their contracts and will be trying to orchestrate a title defence next season.

One man who has been hotly tipped to be lining up alongside Salah and Van Dijk for the 25/26 campaign is Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen. The 20-year-old has impressed for the Cherries and is available for a fee of £50 million due to a release clause. With the summer transfer window opening early due to the FIFA Club World Cup, a host of clubs could be looking to seal his signature as early as June 1st.

On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked leading LFC journalist David Lynch for his thoughts on the Huijsen links.

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David said:

“Liverpool are one of a number of clubs who are in contention for him this summer. They’ve made approaches to his people and expressed that interest.

“All the Premier League big hitters are there, and Real Madrid is in the background, but the question is whether they are going to make the move or not. If they don’t, then I would put Liverpool near the front of that queue.

“There are doubts over Ibou Konaté’s future because he’s got one year left on his contract, and I would expect that Joe Gomez is going to leave this summer, so again, there’s a spot opening up there.

“I think they can sell it to him as, ‘Come and be our third choice in the short term, a couple of years of that, and then you’re into the first team.’ They believe he’s good enough to reach that level.

“I think when you look at the other clubs that are competing, Liverpool has a bit of an edge there, but as I say, it’s still an open race at the moment.

“You can’t ever promise anything in the transfer market, and I would absolutely be wary of doing that, but it would not shock me at all if it was resolved in that first window.”

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Redmen Reacts

The level of excitement over the possible arrival of Dean Huijsen – described as a ‘gem’ by Bill Leslie – depends largely on whether you have a ‘glass half full’ or ‘glass half empty’ attitude to football. For the optimists, Liverpool have historically been keen to exploit release clauses as they remove the need for lengthy negotiations with other clubs over transfer fees. Sporting director Richard Hughes will also have an existing relationship with the player, having brought him to Bournemouth and should therefore have an in-depth knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses. He is amongst the most highly rated centre-backs in Europe and could become the natural successor to Virgil van Dijk. On the negative side, Liverpool under FSG and Michael Edwards have been reluctant to pay large transfer fees for players unless they are guaranteed first-team starters. It seems unlikely that Huijsen will be able to break up the Van Dijk and Konaté partnership that has been the bedrock of much of their success, so perhaps the fee may be off-putting. There are also several other clubs circling – including Real Madrid – so the Reds will have to make the 20-year-old an extremely attractive offer to convince him to join.