Klopp targets Ligue 1 star as Liverpool hope he will get ‘sucked in by the Premier League’ | OneFootball

Arhur Theate has been linked with a move to Liverpool.

Liverpool have added Rennes defender Arthur Theate to their list of targets as Jurgen Klopp looks to bring in a left-footed centre-back, according to reports.

The Belgium international moved to Rennes in 2022 from Belgian club Oostende and made 41 appearances for the Ligue 1 side last season, scoring five goals in the process.

His form for Rennes, and on loan at Bologna in the previous season, has seen him win eight caps for Belgium and some admiring glances around European football.

Liverpool had been linked with Micky van de Ven before he joined Tottenham earlier this month with the Reds only going into the market for a centre-back if they find the right option.

Klopp reportedly wants a left-footed centre-back who still has room for improvement and, at the age of 23, Theate would fit the bill.

And now French publication L’Equipe confirm that Liverpool are ‘on the hunt for a left-footed defender’ this summer with their search currently at Rennes’ door.

The report adds that Theate and Manchester City-linked Jeremy Doku could be ‘sucked in by the Premier League’ with Liverpool adding the former to their shortlist.

Liverpool also want another midfielder after they confirmed the signing of Stuttgart’s Wataru Endo on a long-term contract on Friday with Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch understood to be their next top target.

But French football expert Jonathan Johnson reckons Liverpool “could renew their interest in” Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram after missing out on Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.

Johnson wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Nice will be quietly grateful that they still have Khephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo on their books this summer. However, that could change in the next few weeks with Les Aiglons a target for clubs that can offer European competition to new signings, but for now they are at Allianz Riviera.

“Liverpool could renew their interest in Thuram in the final few weeks of the window, but there is a feeling that he is less Premier League-ready than the likes of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. This one could go either way, but it would not be a huge surprise if he remains with Nice with the end of the window almost in sight.

“I would also not rule out a move within Ligue 1, with PSG still interested in him having also looked earlier this summer along with the likes of Manu Kone and Ibrahim Sangare.”