The £50m wonderkid who could replace Van Dijk at Liverpool – if Barcelona don’t get there first
Liverpool have been linked with a transfer bid for a young defender making his name in the Bundesliga - but is he ready to replace one of their greats?
While it may feel slightly premature for Liverpool to think about putting Virgil van Dijk out to pasture, there are some indications that the 35-year-old’s time at Anfield could be drawing to a close – and among those indications are reports linking the club with a bid for a younger model.
Van Dijk’s contract expires at the end of the 2026/27 season and no talks about an extension appear to have taken place, while there have been growing signs that age may be catching up with the Dutchman, most recently a bad mistake which led to the opening goal in last week’s Champions League game against Villarreal. That error didn’t prove to be costly, but it raised further doubts about the veteran defender’s longevity.
While Liverpool decide whether or not to keep Van Dijk around, they appear to be doing their due diligence on a potential replacement: Stuttgart’s Finn Jeltsch. But is the 20-year-old ready to take over from one of the Reds’ greatest defenders, and how realistic is the prospect of a transfer?
Liverpool keen on signing Finn Jeltsch – reports
According to Spanish outlet Sport, Liverpool are one of two sides who seem to have taken a particular shine to Jeltsch alongside Barcelona, with the Reds said to have had the youngster on their radar since the start of the season.
Already a regular starter with Stuttgart, Jeltsch received his first call-up to the Germany team during the recent international break and although he wasn’t handed a first cap by new national manager Jürgen Klopp, his inclusion in the expanded squad was another step on a trajectory which has been pointing up since he first broke into senior football in 2023 with former side Nürnberg.
A versatile, technical defender who typically operates as a right-sided centre-half but who can also play as a right-back or as a holding midfielder, Jeltsch has many of the qualities that are sought-after in modern defenders – a natural ball-player who is confident in possession and composed against the high press, he is also blessed with an impressive positional sense which allows him to put himself in the right place at the right time with regularity.
There are still times in which his inexperience shows through, but his fundamentals are sound and he’s exceptional in one-on-one situations when ball-carriers get the chance to run at him. At 6’2” he is also suitably imposing at the back, although perhaps not a truly dominant figure in the air.
He lacks the kind of raw physicality which enabled Van Dijk to become one of Europe’s best centre-backs, but has a degree of technicality and passing range which suggests that he may exceed the experienced Dutchman in other ways as time goes by. It’s little wonder that both Liverpool and Barcelona are paying close attention to his progress in the Bundesliga.
The scouts that they’ve reportedly sent to monitor Jeltsch will have seen both good and bad of late. He was, for instance, culpable for one of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s goals in last week’s 3-2 defeat when he gave the ball away in a bad position to spark a successful counter-attack – but they’ll also have seen him put his body on the line to block a shot which seemed certain to lead to another goal. Jeltsch has rough edges to sand off, but the kind of talent who appears to have a very high ceiling indeed.
How likely is it that Liverpool sign Jeltsch in 2027?
According to Sport’s reporting, Barcelona and Liverpool aren’t the only teams who have been keeping tabs on Jeltsch – both Arsenal and Real Madrid are said to have taken a look, too, and while it’s suggested that their interest isn’t as intense at this point in time, there may well be quite a few teams in the bidding when the time comes.
That’s unlikely to come in January, with Jeltsch’s future far more likely to be decided in the summer – by which time Liverpool will have made their mind up about Van Dijk.
The Reds have already shown a willingness to sign young defenders as part of their ongoing refurbishment of the back line, and won’t have been discouraged from investing in a player like Jeltsch after the immediate success enjoyed by the highly impressive Jérémy Jacquet, who has been among the best defenders in the Premier League in the early stages of the season.
Given that Jeltsch fits a similar profile to Jacquet, their interest makes sense and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they’re in the picture when the youngster’s future is resolved – but he will likely cost a considerable sum.
Stuttgart have Jeltsch under contract until 2030 and are in no rush to sell, while Sport suggest that he could cost as much as €60m (£50m). It’s a sum that’s not beyond Liverpool, but they would expect to be signing a player who was ready for first-team football for such a sum. Jeltsch isn’t yet consistent enough to be provably prepared to be a starter at Anfield.
By next summer, however, he may well have sanded off enough of those rough edges to be worthy of such an investment – and Liverpool make sense as a potential destination if Van Dijk does move on at the end of the season. Like all early-season transfer stories, the reports concerning Jeltsch are speculative, but are at least consistent with Liverpool’s transfer policy and potential needs.