For a 25-year-old with 217 club appearances and 23 international caps, it is shaping up to be another savvy acquisition from Liverpool in what is a statement summer.<\/p>\n
And while Alexander Isak may be seen as a luxury signing, the addition of a senior centre-back has been a long time coming.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third senior centre-back in seven years<\/p>\n
![\"PARIS,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-03-05-038-PSG_Liverpool-600x400.jpg\")
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Since Virgil van Dijk<\/a> arrived at the club in January 2018, Liverpool have only parted with significant funds one other time to sign another centre-back.<\/p>\n That was, of course, for Ibrahima Konate<\/a> in the summer of 2021, when the club agreed a \u00a335 million deal to sign the highly-rated Frenchman from Leipzig.<\/p>\n That makes for two senior centre-back signings across the last seven years.<\/p>\n With Liverpool having piled up the trophies in that time, it has been an area of the pitch that has required emergency attention rather than deliberate pruning and care.<\/p>\n Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak were brought in during the centre-back crisis of 2020\/21, but played a combined 13 games \u2013 and by combined, we mean only Kabak took to the field.<\/p>\n Academy products Rhys Williams<\/a> and Nat Phillips<\/a> were subsequently tasked with stepping up and did an admirable job as Jurgen Klopp<\/a>\u2018s side secured Champions League<\/a> qualification against the odds.<\/p>\n All stop-gaps and not part of the bigger picture, though the club would have hoped that was the case when they signed 17-year-old Sepp van den Berg<\/a> for \u00a31.3 million in 2019.<\/p>\n The Dutchman proved a promising talent but not a long-term solution, and the club recouped a healthy profit when he signed for Brentford<\/a> last summer for a deal worth \u00a325 million.<\/p>\n It goes without saying, though, that Liverpool have been in the market and made attempts to sign young, experienced centre-backs in recent years, with Dean Huijsen, Levi Colwill and Leny Yoro among the signatures they chased. <\/p>\n At every turn they were left disappointed, which is why Guehi\u2019s desire to make the move to Anfield and compete for a regular role is long overdue.<\/p>\n Slot, much like Jurgen Klopp<\/a> before him, declared that \u201cwe have enough options that can play there,\u201d when speaking ahead of the Community Shield, but quickly added: \u201cBut if we see a chance in the market, we will not hesitate to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n Guehi is that \u2018chance\u2018, as is 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni for what could be a combined fee that comes in less than what the club paid for Van Dijk more than seven years ago.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Trust will not be an issue<\/p>\n With Guehi, Liverpool would have a plug-and-play defender who can and will compete for a regular role in the side and will have Slot\u2019s trust to do so.<\/p>\n It became quickly apparent last season that the Dutchman had a small circle of trust when it came to the squad he inherited, with only 14 playing more than 1,000 minutes in the Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n There was a core group he turned to, and Jarell Quansah<\/a> was not one of them, prompting his exit this summer to Bayer Leverkusen<\/a> as Richard Hughes<\/a> and Co. moved to create a squad in Slot\u2019s image.<\/p>\n It will lead some to believe that Slot will pick up from where he left off, but Liverpool\u2019s summer business has acquired the talent that will allow for greater rotation in his second season.<\/p>\n His use of Wataru Endo<\/a>, Harvey Elliott<\/a> and Federico Chiesa<\/a>, in particular, was bemusing for supporters throughout the campaign, especially when first-team regulars showed signs of fatigue.<\/p>\n But he will look to the week when Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League<\/a> by PSG and saw Newcastle<\/a> lift the League Cup<\/a> as a prime example of his need to embrace change.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe, maybe, I made the biggest mistake by not rotating enough but I thought there were four days in between for Newcastle<\/a> and they had enough rest,\u201d Slot said at the time.<\/p>\n Rotation became a significant talking point throughout the season, and expanding Slot\u2019s circle of trust will only benefit Liverpool\u2019s pursuit of silverware across multiple competitions. <\/p>\n Unlike Quansah, Guehi will have the trust of his head coach to compete with Van Dijk and Konate, which he will have no shortage of motivation for in a World Cup year.<\/p>\n He is proficient in his defensive duties, a progressive passer and, importantly, happy operating in a high line \u2013 not to mention vastly experienced with close to 250 senior appearances. <\/p>\n Slot\u2019s stamp of approval will signal an overdue turnover at the back, not to mention an injection of competition to stave off any complacency at centre-back, which has been lacking in recent years. <\/p>\n![\"LIVERPOOL,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/P2021-04-10-Liverpool_Aston_Villa-29-1-600x407.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"BOURNEMOUTH,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-02-01-087-Bournemouth_Liverpool-600x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-10-079-Community_Shield-600x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-10-346-Community_Shield_HM-600x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/guehistats1-600x400.jpg\")
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