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Yesterday — 1 April 2026Main stream

Liverpool & Man United transfer interest is “real reason” star has U-turned on contract, says expert

✇CaughtOffside
By:Mark Brus
1 April 2026 at 14:49

Liverpool and Manchester United have an interest in the potential transfer of Borussia Dortmund centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, according to Christian Falk.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside, Falk provided some insight into Schlotterbeck’s situation as he seems to have stalled contract talks with Dortmund.

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It seems the Germany international is keen for more time to decide his future, but Falk believes his club are concerned that the real reason is interest from Liverpool and Man Utd.

“Nico Schlotterbeck said that he must think again about the nearly finalized negotations about a new contract at Borussia Dortmund,” Falk told CaughtOffside.

“He said the reason for this is that the Club have fired the Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl (who was at the the table at the negotiation).

“But the Club think that this is just a Pretext. The real reason could be a new interest in Schlotterbeck of Liverpool and Manchester United.”

Nico Schlotterbeck transfer could fix Liverpool’s centre-back problem

Liverpool fans will no doubt hope this gives them another chance of signing Schlotterbeck, who looks like an ideal priority target for this summer.

Virgil van Dijk is not getting any younger and will surely need a long-term successor soon, while Ibrahima Konate is nearing the end of his contract, so could be leaving on a free transfer at the end of this season.

We previously gave Schlotterbeck the following rating with the Transfer Fit system we use to predict the success of potential signings…

Nico Schlotterbeck TOTAL SCORE: 16/25
Transfer fee ****
Performance ***
Achievements **
Career phase **
Squad need *****

It’s easy to see Schlotterbeck having a positive impact for LFC, even if they might also do better to consider someone younger, or with experience playing in the Premier League.

United would get a similar score, though they arguably don’t need a new central defender as much due to having a lot of depth in that position, unless Harry Maguire leaves at the end of his contract this summer.

The post Liverpool & Man United transfer interest is “real reason” star has U-turned on contract, says expert appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Before yesterdayMain stream

NEW: Liverpool handed major transfer boost after multiple deals go through

✇CaughtOffside
By:Mark Brus
30 March 2026 at 23:15

Liverpool may reportedly have been handed a major transfer boost with regards to keeping hold of Ibrahima Konate despite his contract being due to expire this summer.

The France international is close to becoming a free agent, but so too were Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk before they penned new deals late on last season.

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There’s still time for Konate to put pen to paper on a new contract with Liverpool, and it may in fact be increasingly likely due to the lack of other options out there for him.

While fans’ focus for now will be on how to buy Manchester City vs Liverpool FA Cup tickets for after the international break, there’ll also be plenty of Reds supporters keen to keep up with transfer news and rumours ahead of the summer.

And now it looks like there’s good cause for optimism about Konate’s situation despite no recent updates on him possibly agreeing a new contract at Anfield.

Other clubs have agreed defender deals

Not only have Real Madrid decided against signing Konate, with the Spanish giants informing LFC of their decision, but it’s clear other clubs are thinking the same.

Bayern Munich have recently agreed a new deal for Dayot Upamecano, meaning they’re not in the market for a centre-back this summer.

Barcelona, meanwhile, had also been linked with Konate but are now making Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni a priority instead.

This increasingly means Konate is going to struggle to find suitors, as we also already know that Paris Saint-Germain don’t seem to be in the race, while it then becomes hard to know who else can afford the 26-year-old.

Liverpool’s potential defensive targets

There’s not yet a clear picture of who Liverpool could sign to replace Konate, but one option is gone as Nico Schlotterbeck has agreed a new Borussia Dortmund contract.

One name being linked increasingly strongly is Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix, but they’ve just lost Marc Guehi to Manchester City, which could make them less likely to sell another key centre-back for anything other than huge money.

That doesn’t give Liverpool a lot of options to work with either, so it could well be ideal for both parties if they can finally come to an agreement over a new contract.

What do you think? Will Konate end up staying at Liverpool after all? Give us your predictions in the comments!

The post NEW: Liverpool handed major transfer boost after multiple deals go through appeared first on CaughtOffside.

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