Liverpool are claimed to be weighing up a free transfer for Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka, whose future in Germany is up in the air.
According to the Mirror‘s David Maddock, Ndicka is on the Reds’ radar ahead of a summer transfer window that could see an addition at centre-back.
Though it is maintained that there is “no guarantee,” Maddock explains that the 23-year-old could be targeted, having been tracked since his time at Auxerre.
It is certainly an interesting development, with Nat Phillips expected to leave in the summer and Joel Matip entering the final year of his contract.
Ndicka could even follow Matip in making the move from Germany to Liverpool as a free agent – particularly as Frankfurt’s final contract offer has been on the table for at least three months.
“We really want to keep them,” Frankfurt sporting director Markus Krosche told Kicker in December, when asked about Ndicka and Daichi Kamada.
“[We] have made them offers and explained their role at Eintracht in the future. Now we have to wait and see.
“We are convinced that it would be best for them to stay with Eintracht.”
Given those offers were made at the end of last year and, now heading into April, they are still yet to extend makes it seem unlikely that Ndicka will stay.
Whether he will end up at Liverpool, of course, remains to be seen, not least due to reported competition from the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham, AC Milan and Barcelona.
Krosche, who was considered a candidate to take over from Julian Ward as sporting director at Anfield, clearly feels the futures of both Ndicka and midfielder Kamada would be best served in Frankfurt.
The French defender is likely to retain a more focal role with the Bundesliga side than if he were to make the jump to Merseyside, of course.
Ibrahima Konate, once Ndicka’s captain as a France youth international, holds first-choice status alongside Virgil van Dijk, meaning Liverpool are likely recruiting for a backup role this summer.
However, the continued injury problems in Jurgen Klopp‘s centre-back ranks do show that there will be game time on offer.
It is often the case that clubs in Germany will set a rigid deadline for players to resolve their futures when they are in the position Ndicka is in – and it could even be that this has now passed.
As of yet, there have been no further concrete reports on Liverpool’s interest in Ndicka bar Maddock’s claim earlier this week.
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