Virgil van Dijk admitted that further defensive reinforcements would ‘accelerate’ Liverpool’s improvement as the club considers a move for Marc Guehi.
Liverpool secured a dramatic 4-2 victory over Bournemouth in their opening Premier League fixture after late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamaed Salah.
Arne Slot’s side had taken a two-goal lead before Antoine Semenyo’s brace threatened to deny the defending champions an opening-day win at Anfield.
The Reds have not been at their best defensively so far this season, also conceding twice en route to a penalty shootout defeat in the Community Shield final last weekend.
The singing of 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni provides some cover at centre-back, but Liverpool have also held talks with Palace captain Guehi who is out of contract at the end of the season.
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And Van Dijk hinted that another body through the door would certainly help Liverpool become sturdier at the back.
‘You can say you have to accelerate it (improvement) but that is down to the market,’ the Dutchman said post-match.
‘We have to focus on what’s here and now. I think it (defensively) was much more improved than the last game but there is still work to do
‘The manager already said we are playing with a right-back (Jeremie Frimpong) who came from the Bundesliga, is 24 years old and is trying to get used to how we defend, we play with Milos (Kerkez) who is a very young full-back, very eager and full of energy, who is trying to get used to the way we play.
‘It needs time, that’s absolutely normal, but we also played without our six, Ryan Gravenberch, who missed out (with suspension).
‘We have to keep working, that’s the main thing, trying to keep clean sheets. We conceded two goals in a transition moment where we have to do better. That’s what we have to work on.’
Club-to-club talks are expected to resume between Liverpool and Palace next week over a potential deal for Guehi, with some reports suggesting personal terms have already been agreed with the player.
The south Londoners were hoping to raise around £40m by the sale of Guehi but Liverpool have indicated they want to pay £30m, with an additional £5m in add-ons.
Speaking before Liverpool’s opening league fixture, however, Slot was coy about any deal for the England international.
‘He’s not our player. Unfortunately, he was the captain of the team who we lost to last Sunday,’ Slot said.
‘If you want to have any talks about him you should go to Palace and [manager Oliver] Glasner and ask him about it.’
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