An €80 million signing from Southampton in 2018, centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been a transformative player for Liverpool, helping the club to win the Champions League and Premier League titles and finishing second behind Lionel Messi in the Ballon d'Or voting in 2019.

However, this season his form has dipped and, while the whole team has had its ups and downs, it's been especially noticeable in such an influential player. Though it's premature to suggest that Liverpool should be looking to replace the Netherlands international in the first XI, he turns 32 in July and has a contract that expires in two years, which suggests they could bring in a younger centre-back this summer to spend a season as his understudy.

Liverpool signed Ibrahima Konate for €40m from RB Leipzig in 2021 with an eye on the future, but there's no ready-made replacement out there for Van Dijk. His combination of pace, experience, leadership, ability on the ball, aerial dominance, charisma and uncompromising defending is almost impossible to reproduce.

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So, in taking a look at some possible candidates who could be his long-term successor at Anfield, I've considered players who have some of the same skillsets and reasonably similar stats, along with others who still have things to work on or would need to adapt to a different system. Many are not easy to sign, given the fees involved, but even if Liverpool end up disappointed (as they were with Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham), these players would be worth pursuing.

 

Josko Gvardiol, 20, RB Leipzig

  • Transfer value: €75m

Finding a young defender who has the authority of a 30-year-old is hard, yet, despite his age, it's easy to imagine Gvardiol taking on a leadership role at a bigger club than RB Leipzig. Used to playing in a high defensive line, the Croatia international has the pace to make recovering runs and knows when to take up advanced positions and when to drop back. His varied passing skills also make him ideal to take charge of the distribution from the back, be it precise passes through the middle or picking out a teammate's run with his excellent left foot.

Technically adept and resolute in his defending, Gvardiol is already approaching the profile of a complete centre-back. And, as a result, there's likely to be a significant queue of elite European clubs — including Manchester City and Real Madrid — lining up to sign him when he departs Germany. Unless eighth-placed Liverpool can make a late charge for Europe, they may struggle to fight for his signature this summer.