'Commanding' star's agents sent to Liverpool to discuss his next steps

Liverpool have been linked with several different players over the last couple of years.

The Anfield outfit have now spent over £600 million on new talent and, while a lot of the players that they chose to bring in have helped improve things, there are still some major problem areas among their ranks.

If the Reds are wanting to get back to their best, they're going to need to start spending big or, at least smarty.

Because, even though almost £400 million has been spent on their attack, they could still do with adding another forward or two to their squad.

But, that area of their squad isn't the only issue that they have.

Ifeanyi Ndukwe's agents were sent to Liverpool to discuss his future

Much like Liverpool's attack, a decent chunk of change has been spent on trying to improve their defence.

And, while things are definitely better with Jeremy Jacquet as Virgil van Dijk's partner rather than Ibrahima Konate, there are still a fair few problems that are affecting Andoni Iraola's men.

Neither of their left-backs have performed to the standards expected of them and, while Ronald Araujo has done a good job at right-back, he's not attacking enough to be able to be the Reds' first-choice for the entire season.

The fact that so many of the Reds' defenders have their contracts expiring in June 2027 is also a major issue.

So, this recent update from Sky Sports Austria journalist Eric Niederseer about what's happening with Ifeanyi Ndukwe makes a lot of sense.

"Ifeanyi Ndukwe (18) has already collected the points to qualify for UK work permit after his debut for UD Levante in September," he wrote.

"His agents at More Than Sport by AS1 will travel to UK to meet with Liverpool FC and discuss a potential winter return and next career steps."

Ifeanyi Ndukwe has the potential to be Liverpool's next Virgil van Dijk

Although Ndukwe is only 18 years old, the way that he carries himself on the pitch is impeccable.

During Liverpool's pre-season games, fans were distraught that the Austrian couldn't be registered due to his inability to earn a work permit.

This led to a fair few rumours about his future being shared with only a season-long loan considered as a potential option by Liverpool.

In the end, La Liga outfit Levante took a chance on the youngster and, although it took him a while to get into the swing of things, he's now found his feet and has been one of their best defenders.

Obviously, with how well Jacquet and Van Dijk are playing at the moment, it's unclear whether Liverpool really need to bring the Austrian back to L4 in January or not.

Because, if he stays put and continues in this purple patch of form, his development could sky-rocket, whereas, if he returns to Liverpool and isn't played each week, he could regress and get worse.

So, at the moment, unless anything happens, Liverpool should keep Ndukwe out on loan until the end of the current season, that way, they'll be able to figure out whether they're going to keep Van Dijk around or trust in their "commanding" centre-back.