Richard Hughes now has incredible chance to complete special centre-back transfer | OneFootball

Liverpool want to sign a centre-back and Richard Hughes has an incredible chance to complete a deal for a special defender.

It's very clear that as well as signing Alexander Isak, the Reds focus is reinforcing the backline for Arne Slot.

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Despite the Liverpool head coach claiming on several occasions that he is satisfied with his options at the back, a team that has to rely on makeshift Wataru Endo or Ryan Gravenberch as a fourth choice centre-back is not sustainable if they harbour aspirations of winning the Premier League and the Champions League.

The two most coveted centre-backs for Liverpool remain Marc Guehi and Giovanni Leoni. They are rather different in their profile. Guehi is not the tallest defender but he makes up for it with his other qualities and he has a ton of experience in the Premier League.

Leoni is raw but he's toweringly tall and looks like a future star. He has the potential to have a similar trajectory to Dena Huijsen if he continues his development.

At this moment in time though, Liverpool have not advanced on any deal, yet. Which is why Hughes should pivot to a player who could follow in the footsteps of Ilia Zabarnyi.

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Out of all the young top centre-backs in Europe, most have already been snapped up. But there is an incredible chance for Liverpool to sign one of the most exciting young defenders on the continent who is still available for a transfer this summer.

You may not have heard of 20-year-old Taras Mykhavko, but you will soon. He announced himself on the international stage with a goal against England's U21 side on his debut for Ukraine's U21 team.

He's also been catching the eye in the Europa League for Dynamo Kyiv, very much following in the footsteps of Zabarnyi, who also made his mark at the Ukrainian club.

Mykhavko is a left-sided centre-back and first and foremost he's a great defender. Over the course of his senior career in just over 4500 minutes, he's won 73% of his 6 defensive duels per 90 minutes. Averaging 4.63 aerial duels, he's also won 62.3%, which is a decent return.

Obviously for Slot's side you don't just need to be a good defender but you also need to be excellent on the ball. Mykhavko is exactly that, he's averaged over 70 passes in his career, and over 40% of his attempts (29) have been forward passes.

This highlights that he isn't just a player who makes comfortable side passes but he looks ahead to make penetrative passes into dangerous territories.

9.34 passes of his passes per 90 minutes have also been to the opposition's final third, with 74% reaching its target. That's a little lower but it's interesting to take into account that it's actually higher (81%) in the Europa League and the Champions League, where he has over 1200 minutes and where he often faces more difficult opposition.

Mykhavko is also relatively quick, he can make a lot of recovery runs and cover a lot of ground, too.

On paper, he's a perfect option. Of course, he will need to adjust to the Premier League but he'll only be coming in as fourth choice. For that role, he'll have the time to adapt before being truly relied upon.

Liverpool need a centre-back and this is an incredible opportunity Hughes simply cannot pass up on. Mykhavko is made for Liverpool.