Liverpool are already making plans for the summer and will look to back manager Arne Slot in the transfer market.
Slot has come under pressure this season, with the Reds only fourth in the Premier League table in defence of the title they won in his first season in charge.
However, UEFA Champions League football is all-but guaranteed, with the Reds needing just three points from their final four fixtures to qualify for Europe's premier competition next season. That is always the bare minimum for Liverpool and Slot will have delivered, although much more would have been expected given the £400million-plus spend in last summer's transfer window.
Liverpool Will Need To Replace Virgil Van Dijk
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their second goal with Virgil van Dijk
Now all eyes will be on what happens this summer, with Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson already confirmed as leaving and more changes to be made to the playing squad.
There will be speculation over who is the long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk, with the 34-year-old entering the final year of his contract at Anfield, having signed a two-year extension in 2025.
Micky van de Ven at Tottenham has been one of the names touted as a potential candidate to come in and play alongside his countryamn before eventually succeeding him and if Spurs are relegated to the Championship, such a move could get easier to complete.
However, another name has emerged as a potential centre-back signing this summer and it is another countryman of van Dijk - Sam Beukema.
The Napoli centre-back may not be a name familiar to too many people, but he has impressed in Serie A and in the Champions League under Antonio Conte - when he's been picked.
At the start of the Champions League campaign, Italian sports journalist Rudy Galetti said: "Sometimes, leadership on the pitch does not come from the loudest voice, but from the calmest presence. For Napoli, that presence is Sam Beukema.
"In a Champions League filled with stars and egos, Napoli may have found their silent general: the man who lets his game, and his perfect passes, do all the talking."
Antonio Conte Is Key To Sam Beukema Decision
Antonio Conte
According to reports in Italy Liverpool have already made their move with a €28million (£24million) offer for the 27-year-old, with Slot "ready to welcome him" to the club.
Beukema has been in and out of the Napoli side during the 2025/26 season, despite having been one of the first-choices at the back early on in the campaign. He has, however, played the full 90 minutes in seven of the club's last 11 games, helping the Naples outfit to second in the Serie A table and all-but guaranteed Champions League football next season.
Conte is understood to be open to letting the centre-back leave for the right price this summer and a £24million bid from Liverpool could get a deal done.
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