Van Dijk replacement puts himself on the market: Liverpool have to move

With Virgil van Dijk out of contract at Liverpool at the end of the season, the Anfield side have seen the door opened to a perfect replacement.

Van Dijk is expected to leave Anfield when his deal expires in June, blowing open a void in the heart of the defence. With Joe Gomez’s future also under question as his contract ticks down next summer, Andoni Iraola’s side will need at least one, possibly two centre-backs.

One possibility has already emerged at the club, with Ronald Araujo impressing on his loan spell from Barcelona, but another is developing elsewhere in the form of France international centre-back Dayot Upamecano, who has opened the door to the possibility of leaving Bayern Munich.

Speaking to the media while on international duty, Upamecano was asked about moving to England and admitted: “I’ve been in Germany a while now. At the moment, I feel very, very good. I’m still improving. We’ll see what the future holds, but at the moment I feel very good at my club.”

Upamecano’s response contained mixed messages, suggesting that there is a degree of uncertainty in his position.

Interestingly, that is reflected by Bayern. When sporting director Max Eberl was questioned about a claim that Upamecano has a €65m release clause in his contract, he said: “I'm not here to go into the details of contracts. One thing is certain: we have extended Upamecano's contract, we are delighted about it, and to be honest, he feels perfectly at ease here.”

With no one willing to fully commit to Upamecano remaining in Bavaria, there is an opening for Liverpool to exploit.

Crucially, they are the club seen as the best fit for the 28-year-old’s next step by data analytics experts SciSports. Its Career Advice tool scores clubs on a variety of factors from player development and game time to formation and playing style.

No team does better than Liverpool’s score of 85 for Upamecano, making the Reds a dream fit for the centre-back, who could team up with France colleague Jeremy Jacquet in the heart of the Anfield defence next term.

And there’s another motivating factor for Iraola’s side to land the former RB Leipzig defender: he could offer excellent value.

Assuming those rumours of a €65m release clause are accurate, this is below the player’s current Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €69.1m. This highlights his status as a market opportunity.

Upamecano is a player who seems to have it all for Liverpool: quality, compatibility and value. Ahead of what promises to be a busy 2027 on the transfer market for the Anfield club, he should certainly be establishing himself as a priority for the Reds to explore.