Liverpool close to sign the Dutch ‘Machine’

Following injuries of

Virgil van Dijk

and

Joe Gomez

,

Jurgen Klopp

tried to deal with the blow by bringing

Fabinho

to the heart of the defense, as well as giving game time to academy graduates,

Nat Phillips

and

Rhys Williams

.

However, the Reds were bided to sign a central defender this January, and according to the Times’ renowned journalist,

Duncan Castles

,

Liverpool

have made contact with

Lille

to sign

Sven Botman

.

“Liverpool are working on a deal. That is Sven Botman, in his first season at Lille from Ajax for an initial €8million (£7million). He has been outstanding at Lille,”

Castles stated.

“They would be willing to sell the player for twice and a little bit more than the fee they paid. They have been speaking to Botman’s agent. Botman’s agent likes the sounds of the conversations and believes there is a strong possibility of a January bid.”

The 20-year-old defender appeared in all of

Lille’s

league fixtures this season and helped them to keep eight clean-sheets alongside former Premier League star,

Jose Fonte

.

Lille

are currently level on points with the Ligue 1 leaders,

Lyon

.

Jose Fonte

, who has played alongside

Van Dijk, Alderweireld

, and

Pepe

, described his current centre-back partner as a “machine” who does not make errors.

The French side reportedly demands a £27million fee for their Dutch defender.