**Liverpool have reportedly made their decision over completing the signing of Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger in the summer transfer window.**
A new centre-back is a must for the Reds at the end of the season, even if Ibrahima Konate ends up signing a new contract at Anfield, following some much-improved form of late.
Virgil van Dijk isn’t getting any younger, Joe Gomez could depart after 12 years as a Liverpool player and talented youngster Giovanni Leoni is still a work in progress – one who is coming back from serious injury.
It looks as though Madrid ace Rudiger won’t be the man that the Reds turn to, however, with _[Football Insider](https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-antonio-rudiger-to-tottenham-latest-as-liverpool-transfer-plan-revealed/)_ reporting that the Reds have “no plans” in place to make a move for the German in the summer.
At 33 years of age, he is “too old for them at this stage of their project”, suggesting they will turn to younger options instead, rather than someone who is only a year younger than Van Dijk.
**The right decision by Liverpool not to sign Antonio Rudiger?**
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Rudiger has enjoyed a fantastic career, winning the Champions League with Madrid and standing out as an elite defender, once being hailed by Liverpool legend [Jamie Carragher](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12065911/Pundits-marvel-Antonio-Rudigers-performance-Real-Madrid-against-Man-City.html) after he kept Manchester City striker Erling Haaland quiet:
_“Militao is normally the first choice centre-back but he was out so Rudiger comes in. If you were going to ask any player to come in in European football at the moment, I probably would have said for aggression, application, the way he enjoys that physical element of the game. That’s what we’ve been saying about Haaland in the Premier League, who’s been willing to take him and have a 1 v 1 battle and be confident the way Rudiger was today? He was excellent and clever as well at times.”_
Given Rudiger’s age, it makes little sense for Liverpool to sign him this summer, with the Germany international no longer at the peak of his powers.
At least one new centre-back in and around his mid-20s has to be the aim, such as Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck, but two wouldn’t go amiss.
Liverpool cannot afford to in a position when they are too reliant on their main pairing staying fit, as has been the case this term, and it has to be seen as a main area of focus.