Liverpool transfer news: Liverpool returned to winning ways at Crystal Palace on Sunday, a 3-1 victory that lifted them to fourth in the Premier League with 18 points from 10 games. It ended a two-match losing run, after Arsenal won 1-0 at Anfield and Fenerbahce won 3-2 in the Champions League. Alexander Isak has six league goals, so the attack works, and Florian Wirtz scored his first league goal of the season. The back line is where Andoni Iraola still has work to do.

Liverpool have conceded 10 times in ten league matches, yet the figure hides how thin the group looks. Ibrahima Konaté left for Real Madrid on a free transfer, while Virgil van Dijk, now 35, and Joe Gomez both see their contracts expire in June 2027.

Jérémy Jacquet cost £55m from Rennes and has settled beside the captain, Ronald Araujo is on loan from Barcelona with a £47.1m option to buy, and Giovanni Leoni, 19, remains a long-term project after his ACL injury. Iraola’s full-backs push high, which leaves the centre-backs defending big spaces. That mix of age, youth and short contracts keeps recruitment staff scanning Europe for options.

Transfer Feed reports that Liverpool have been linked with AC Milan centre-back Koni De Winter, but sources have slightly reduced the significance, saying he sits on a long list for the very top clubs. CaughtOffside earlier named Manchester United and Chelsea as interested too. He is not pushing to leave, and Milan, who signed him until 2030 for a reported €20m (about £17m), face no pressure to sell.

The 24-year-old is 6ft 3in, wins 65.6% of his aerial duels and passes at 91.4%, with 10.71 line-breaking passes per 90. Ruben Amorim says no Milan defender matches him in the air. The drawbacks are tactical, because he plays in Amorim’s back three while Liverpool defend with four, and he relies on size and positioning more than recovery speed.

Liverpool transfer news: Should Liverpool pursue De Winter as their next centre-back?

Not as a priority, though monitoring makes sense. His strengths, aerial dominance and positioning, overlap with Jacquet, who already offers both. Iraola needs a quicker, left-sided defender who can cover the space behind advancing full-backs and eventually succeed Van Dijk.

Liverpool hold an option on Araujo, and paying above £17m for a third young centre-back would complicate that decision while Van Dijk’s and Gomez’s futures stay unresolved. A defender who needs a back three to look his best solves Amorim’s problem more than Iraola’s.