Liverpool agree second defender deal as club release transfer statement

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Austria Wien have revealed that they have agreed a deal with Liverpool which gives the Premier League champions the option to sign one of their talented young central defenders this summer.

The Reds are yet to make a senior signing in the January transfer window after backing Arne Slot significantly in the summer transfer window. They have, though, been active in the market for young players with high potential and completed a deal for Mor Talla Ndiaye, an 18-year-old centre-back, earlier this month.

It now appears that Ifeanyi Ndukwe, another highly-rated 17-year-old defender, could join him at Anfield after Austria Wien confirmed Liverpool have 'secured an option' to sign him in the upcoming summer transfer window.

In an official club statement , Wien wrote: "Liverpool FC has secured the option to sign Austria Wien's home-grown talent Ifeanyi Ndukwe during the upcoming summer transfer window. This option can be exercised until the end of June 2026. The tall centre-back has been a Violet since the age of seven and has played for all of Austria's youth and academy teams."

The club's Sporting director, Michael Wagner, said of the agreement: "It is a great honour that one of the world's best football clubs has shown interest in one of our home-grown players.

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"The agreement with Liverpool FC is structured in such a way that Austria Wien will come out well in any scenario, regardless of whether the option is exercised or not. For me, this is a clear win-win situation for both clubs. Above all, this story is a great tribute to the excellent work that is done in our academy every day. We have a number of players here with enormous potential, which we want to exploit even more in future and thus become a springboard for talented players into Europe's top leagues – Austria Wien is the right club for this.

"We were aware that there would be a lot of interest in our three U17 team players in particular after they reached the World Cup final. Basically, our goal is for our talented players to first establish themselves in the first team and thus recommend themselves for higher tasks.

"In this case, the overall package – both Liverpool FC's offer to Austria and the prospects for Ifeanyi Ndukwe – was a perfect fit for everyone involved."

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