Club Chief Reveals Liverpool And Chelsea Are “Interested” In 20 y/o Defender Who Could Be Sold For £15M

Liverpool and Chelsea are among the teams “interested” in Slavia Prague fullback El Hadji Malick Diouf, according to the club’s president.

Speaking to inFotbal, Jaroslav Tvrdik confirmed that the 20-year-old is being pursued by the two Premier League clubs and he wouldn’t stand in the way of the player leaving if his asking price is met:

“If Liverpool and Chelsea, who were also interested in him, had come with an offer of around €18 million (£15.1m), I would have hesitated to approach it differently from the perspective of promoting the club or the player’s interest.”

“If Chelsea comes, we wouldn’t keep anyone [from going]. Nothing will change, it’s just not possible objectively. One has to admit that the Czech league and Slavia have some limits. Even PSG, when it comes to breaking the bank, won’t keep their player and he’ll go to Real. We’re part of a football chain and we’re not at the top of it.”

What do fans need to know about Diouf?

The Senegalese international moved from his home country to make his professional debut for Norwegian side Tromso.

After spending less than a year in Europe, Diouf secured a €2.5m move to Slavia Prague during the last January transfer window.

Over the last 12 months, the defender has scored 8 times and provided 3 assists in 38 appearances. He is usually deployed as a left wingback by Slavia, but he can also play at left-back or even centre-half if required.

Liverpool are looking to reinforce the left-hand side of defence

Many pundits, including Jamie Carragher, believe Andy Robertson’s time at the top level is coming to an end and there is a growing clamour for the Reds to replace the Scotland captain.

Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri and Ajax’s Jorrel Hato have been touted as potential candidates. Diouf would certainly be a left-field choice if the Merseysiders do decide to step up their interest.

Find out who is in Liverpool’s first-team squad for 2024/2025 season here

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David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.