Liverpool and Man Utd go head-to-head in exciting January transfer race for Barcelona star eager to move on.
Liverpool are in a race with Manchester United to sign one of Hansi Flick’s important players from Barcelona ahead of the January transfer window.
Andoni Iraola spent a lot in the summer, including signing PSG’s forward Bradley Barcola for £123 million, but a few areas on the team still need strengthening. For example, the Reds haven’t signed a central midfielder since summer 2023, when Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Wataru Endo joined. Now, Liverpool want to end that dry spell by bringing in a new midfielder, and they’re leading the chase for Bournemouth star Alex Scott.
Scott is valued at a huge £100 million and would be a big boost to Iraola’s midfield. But he’s not the only player or position on Liverpool’s radar.
Right-back has been a problem for the club ever since Trent Alexander-Arnold moved to Real Madrid in 2025. Currently, Iraola prefers to use Ronald Araujo as a traditional right-back instead of Jeremie Frimpong, who has struggled since joining from Bayer Leverkusen. Araujo is filling in until Conor Bradley comes back from a long injury, but Liverpool are also eyeing a big move in January for Barcelona’s Jules Kounde.
According to exclusive news from 4-4-2, Liverpool have made contact about Kounde through middlemen after learning he is not a guaranteed starter at Barca this season. The French defender is averaging just 52 minutes per game in La Liga and sharing time at right-back with ex-Manchester City player Eric Garcia.
It’s no surprise that Liverpool aren’t the only club interested. Bayern Munich have shown strong interest in the 27-year-old, and Chelsea, Manchester United, and Arsenal know Kounde is open to a winter move. Kounde can play both center-back and right-back, has 58 caps for France, and has four years left on his Camp Nou contract. Barcelona would want at least €60 million (£50 million) for him.
Kounde is thinking carefully about his future and might prefer a club where he can play regularly instead of being rotated by Flick. Garcia is the manager’s first choice at right-back, but Flick has praised Kounde for his professionalism.
“Jules Kounde is a 100% professional player. A 100% professional person,” Flick said. “I see it every day. He always wants to improve and compete better.”
“We always think about who is best right now for each game… but sometimes he has to accept starting on the bench.”
“That’s the quality of this team. We have many players at a really good level.”
Clearly, Flick values Kounde highly, but with the Premier League chance in January, the defender might be tempted to start a new adventure.