Leeds United are considering a summer move for Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas, according to the latest reports. Daniel Farke's side are expected to strengthen at left-back as fears grow around Junior Firpo's future.
Firpo's Leeds contract expires in June and he has been linked with a return to Real Betis, while Barcelona are also are among the others interested in a possible transfer. Although there is some confidence that the 28-year-old could put pen to paper on a new deal, the Whites are preparing for life without him.
According to the Daily Mail, Leeds have identified Tsimikas as a potential replacement. The Greece international is expected to be allowed to leave Liverpool with Milos Kerkez tipped to make the move to Anfield. Tsimikas has two years left on his contract and could be available for around £12million this summer.
But what has been said about Tsimikas this season? Here, Leeds Live take a look and Arne Slot's comments on the former Olympiacos man and his future at Liverpool...
Robertson answer
Back in January, Tsimikas appeared to get more starting opportunities in the Liverpool XI, as first-choice Andy Robertson began to struggle. Asked whether the decision to rotate was purely a case of managing Robertson's workload or due to Tsimikas' performance levels, Slot gave a telling answer.
"I think both," Slot said. "If Kostas was on a completely different level than Robbo, then it would not be smart to rotate in that position or manage the load, because then you drop so far in quality that it could be a risk.
"I don't know what Kostas' situation was last season – I know that he didn't play a lot but I don't know which level he was at – but from the moment I came in, in our tour of the United States, he did really well.
"So he's proved that he can play in the left full-back position as well. Since we’ve got now two good options in my opinion, you indeed see that we are managing loads and rotate in that position quite a bit."
Slot dilemma
Back in November, Slot was quizzed about whether the left-back position was a dilemma for him, as he had Tsimikas and Robertson both competing for the same starting area.
"I wouldn't say it is a dilemma," said Slot. "There are other positions where we have rotated.
"It probably also has to do with Robbo's [Robertson's] pre-season. He had no pre-season because he came back injured from the Euros so he missed almost the whole pre-season. For most of them it was only two weeks but for him it was only a few days.
"Kostas did really well in that period of time so it has to do with the quality Kostas has in that position but it also has to do with Robbo missing pre-season. That's why we started rotating from the start a bit. If a player has missed pre-season he can't play three games in a row. That's the situation.
"It was good for Robbo to play against Arsenal and against Brighton in midweek. That is making sure he is getting into that rhythm of playing twice a week."