Liverpool had as many as 34 centre-halves under consideration a year ago before signing former Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

The Times says the Reds had been tracking 34 different centre backs and had scouts monitoring their performances in over 15 games.

That was then condensed into four 'A grade' targets, high quality players who fit the bill.

Also on the shortlist were four 'B grade' defenders, who were young players likely to develop into 'A grade' stars.

One of the candidates on the 'A' list is now going toe-to-toe with Liverpool in the title race.

Aymeric Laporte was snapped up by Manchester City in the January transfer window for £57m from Athletic Club.

The other two candidates besides Van Dijk - who was top priority - were Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly and Bayern Munich's Jerome Boateng.