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Liverpool are not expected to pursue Dutch defender Lutsharel Geertruida, with The Athletic’s James Pearce reporting that the Reds have shown no intention of returning to the table for the versatile right-sided player.
Geertruida, who was a loan target in January, has an option to join Premier League side Sunderland for £20million this summer. He emerged as a surprise target for Liverpool at the end of the January transfer window following injury to Jeremie Frimpong.
The Netherlands international was sought to provide defensive reinforcements as Liverpool had been stretched this season – summer signing Giovanni Leoni suffered a season-ending ACL injury in September, while Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, and Frimpong were sidelined in January.
A move for the 25-year-old proved too complex, with Liverpool instead completing a £60million deal for Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet.
While Jacquet – also courted by Chelsea – will strengthen the squad next season, Slot admitted the club had been looking for immediate defensive reinforcements.
“I think I’ve said that we’ve tried to strengthen the squad, so that probably tells you [I wanted players] and I don’t think I was the only one who wanted that,” Slot said back in February. “But it’s always about availability and the right player.
“We do have discussions about what is good for the short and for the long term of the club and now, for example, Jeremy Jacquet wasn’t available for the winter, but he was for the summer.
“We’ve made a decision to sign him because we think he’s a really good signing for the future of this club. I’m very happy with the squad. Let that be clear. But it’s all clear and obvious, that we have three long-term injuries (Bradley, Leoni, Alexander Isak).
“That’s why we’ve tried to strengthen the squad in winter break and the player you mentioned (Geertruida), in the end, wasn’t available. But we’ve tried to strengthen the squad – that is clear.
“And that tells you that we think that it would have helped us. But it should be possible that we’re not gonna sign players that are not good enough to play for this club.” Geertruida, who captained Feyenoord under Arne Slot, has made 27 appearances for Sunderland so far this season.
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