Liverpool have reportedly asked about a defender who we could get to see in action at Euro 2024.
According to SportBild, the Reds have submitted an enquiry about Waldemar Anton, the Stuttgart centre-back and captain who’s also wanted by Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund,
The 26-year-old’s contract at the MHPArena runs to 2027 and contains a release clause of €22.5m (£19m).
If Liverpool were to secure a move for Anton this summer, it’d have strong echoes of their acquisition of Wataru Endo last August.
The Japanese midfielder was signed from Stuttgart (and was a teammate of the German defender for three years) for a cut-price fee of £16m, an amount not overly dissimilar from the 26-year-old’s modest release clause.
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The tireless Anton is among the Bundesliga‘s top performers in terms of distance covered on the pitch, while his positive mindset is borne out in him averaging 5.36 progressive passes, 1.19 progressive carries and 0.47 successful take-ons per game. Each of those places him among the top 13% of centre-backs in Europes’ five main leagues over the past year (FBref).
Those are the qualities which earned him a place in Germany’s squad for Euro 2024, despite only playing a single minute for his country before the start of this month (Transfermarkt).
As it stands, the Stuttgart defender could realistically be acquired for a relatively low-cost amount, but that could change if he enjoys a standout European Championship for the host nation.
The move for Endo emerged from seemingly nowhere and was wrapped up in double-quick time. Let’s see if Liverpool can be equally efficient with a potential swoop for his former teammate Anton.
READ MORE: A history of Liverpool players at the European Championship
