Liverpool and Chelsea are both “tracking” Juventus centre-back Facundo Gonzalez, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

Writing in his Substack column, Phillips reported that the two Premier League teams have been keeping an eye on the Uruguayan Under 20 international during his loan spell at Sampdoria.

Gonzalez did not start the season in the starting lineup, having joined from Juve in the summer, but he has not missed a minute of league action since starting the 1-1 draw against Ascoli at the start of October.

The 20-year-old’s introduction to the first team has coincided with Sampdoria picking up 19 points from their last 9 fixtures.

Considering the Serie B side had started the campaign having won 0 of their first 8 games, that is quite some turnaround and, undoubtedly, Gonzalez’s involvement has had a lot to do with that.

What do we know about Gonzalez?

The defender started out at Vista Alegre and Espanyol’s youth academies before moving across Spain to Valencia, where he stayed for three years. During his time at the Mestalla, he did not make his debut for the first team.

Gonzalez did play senior football for the B team in Segunda Division B, making 37 appearances in total. However, it is likely his exploits at the Under 2o World Cup (which Uruguay won) that attracted the attention of Juve’s scouts.

The Serie A side snapped up the player for €2m back in August before they sent him out on loan to Sampdoria a few weeks later to gain more experience.

What sort of player would Liverpool be getting if they signed Gonzalez?

One of the defender‘s key attributes is that he is left-footed. The Reds are believed to be looking for a left-sided centre-half so their interest in the Uruguayan is not a complete surprise.

Gonzalez is also quite tall, standing at 1.93m (roughly 6ft 4), so he should have no trouble dealing with the physical aspects of the Premier League if he were to make the switch to England.