Strong Liverpool interest in top defender forces Inter Milan to accelerate offer; two Reds alternatives confirmed

Rudy Galetti 19 Oct 2024 11:22 AM

Loic Bade, Jonathan Tah and Goncalo Inacio are all on Liverpool's shortlist

Inter Milan intend to speed things up to convince Jonathan Tah to sign a pre-contract agreement as early as the first months of 2025, sources have revealed to TEAMtalk, with Liverpool also in hot pursuit of the defender.

The Nerazzurri are well aware that there is strong interest in the player from Liverpool, who are looking for a centre-back, with Sevilla’s Loic Bade and Sporting’s Goncalo Inacio confirmed as the other names on their shortlist.

The race for Tah, who won the Bundesliga as Bayer Leverkusen’s vice-captain last season, also includes competition from Bayern Munich and also from AC Milan.

For this reason, Inter want to get ahead of the competition, given that Jonathan is the chosen one to strengthen the defence, where he would take the place of Francesco Acerbi or Stefan de Vrij, who will be 37 and 33 respectively when their contracts expire at the end of the season and are destined to leave.

The German centre-back, who turns 29 in February, has given his availability to evaluate Inter’s offer. The Nerazzurri, through intermediaries, have let Tah’s entourage know that they are willing to put a contract until 2029 on the table at an annual salary of €6m, which currently equates to around £96,000 per week.

The Italian club wants to make a move like the ones already made last year with Mehdi Taremi and Piotr Zielinski, with whom an agreement was already reached in the first months of the year so they could join on Bosman transfers from Porto and Napoli respectively.

Liverpool defender search explained

As we reported exactly a month ago, Liverpool are scouring the market for defensive targets after Virgil van Dijk entered the final year of his contract.

Gleison Bremer was considered to be one of the top targets, but the Juventus defender has since suffered an ACL injury that will rule him out for a number of months.

With that in mind, Inacio remains the first name on the list at the moment, while the performances of Bade continue to be followed; the French player is considered a low-cost option, with high quality.

And if Liverpool want Tah, they will have to step up their efforts given how Inter are pushing for him.

Tah is accustomed to playing in a back three – the system usually adopted by Inter coach Simone Inzaghi – from his time playing for Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen.

Latest Liverpool transfer rumours

Coincidentally, there has been some speculation recently about Liverpool being interested in one of Inter’s current top performers in a different position.

Elsewhere, reports have suggested a new destination that Mohamed Salah could move to, as the end of his contract at Anfield approaches.

Salah is one of three Liverpool players out of contract at the end of the season, the others being Trent Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, so head coach Arne Slot has provided an honest update on the situation.