Liverpool has snapped up a young defender ahead of the summer window.

Everyone knew the Reds wanted Marc Guehi—he’s at Manchester City now—but that deal fell apart at the last minute. So, Arne Slot and his team moved on, and they’ve already boosted their back line with a fresh signing.

This position’s been a headache for Liverpool for a while. Just look at Giovanni Leoni, another teenage defender they brought in. He tore his ACL during his debut in September and hasn’t played since. The new signing isn’t as experienced as Guehi would have been, but Liverpool’s hoping they’ve found another raw gem to polish.

Austrian paper Kronen Zeitung, picked up by Sport Witness, says Liverpool have agreed a deal for Ifeanyi Ndukwe, a 17-year-old centre-back from Austria Vienna. The fee? Around €4.2 million, or about £3.6 million. Ndukwe was born in Vienna, but he won’t actually join Liverpool until the summer because Brexit rules block under-18s from moving to the UK. He turns 18 in March, so he’ll make the switch then.

Liverpool wasn’t alone in the chase. Kurier reports Inter Milan and a few others were interested, but Liverpool came out on top.

Austria’s U18 coach, Hermann Stadler, told Kronen Zeitung, “He’s developed superbly and will go far. I would have liked to see him in Austria for another year, but in two or three years, we’ll see if this was the right call.”

Honestly, landing a player who’s wanted across Europe is a good sign for Liverpool, but fans shouldn’t expect Ndukwe to step straight into the first team. He hasn’t made a senior appearance for Austria Vienna yet, and the Premier League is another level entirely.

Still, young players can surprise you. Liverpool’s short at the back right now, so they’re hoping Ndukwe can make an impact sooner rather than later once he arrives. Transfermarkt puts his current value at €1 million.

The clock’s winding down on the transfer window, and nobody’s really sure if Liverpool will make any last-minute moves after a wild summer.

There’s less than two weeks left for the higher-ups at Anfield to sign off on new players for Arne Slot’s squad. Already this month, Liverpool watched Marc Guehi head off to Manchester City, and Federico Chiesa’s future is still up in the air. Slot, though, isn’t giving much away about what the club plans to do.

“I think everyone’s on the same page about what we’re up against,” he said when someone asked if Conor Bradley’s injury might push Liverpool to bring someone in. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything, but nobody’s got a different view. Still, that doesn’t guarantee anything happens.” So here’s where things stand at Anfield.

Curtis Jones catches eyes

Tottenham are apparently sniffing around Curtis Jones, if you believe the Times.

There’s been some talk about whether Jones will be happy with his minutes by the end of the season, especially since Spurs and a few other clubs would jump at the chance to sign him if he looked like he wanted to leave.

But with Spurs already bringing in Conor Gallagher, and Jones—who’s started seven of Liverpool’s last eight league games—still dreaming of making it big at Anfield, a move doesn’t seem likely right now.

Jones was pretty open about it back in December: “The big thing for me is to stay humble—I don’t want to just say, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna be captain’ or anything. But I want that. I want to be captain, and I want to stay here my whole life, like Gerrard, who’s always been my hero.”

Diomande is staying put—for now.

RB Leipzig’s sporting director, Marcel Schafer, made it clear they’re running the show when it comes to Yan Diomande. Leipzig picked him up last summer from Leganes by meeting his £17.4 million release clause, and since then, the 19-year-old winger’s been turning heads—including at Liverpool and Manchester United. Reports say he could fetch over £80 million these days.

But Leipzig’s not in any rush to sell. Asked if they’re in the “front seat” on Diomande’s future, Schafer joked, “Nobody’s even in the passenger seat. Everyone’s in the back.” He also talked about why they moved for Diomande in the first place: “We saw his numbers and knew we had to check him out—on video and in person. We were there before he’d even played 200 minutes in the league. His profile was exactly what we wanted.

“We didn’t need to have five meetings about it. It was a perfect fit. Once we started talking to Leganés, they told us outright—pay the release clause or forget it, because there was big competition. It was a lot of money considering where he was, but he was our top choice. We even ran it past Klopp and Mario Gomez—everyone said, ‘Go for it.’”

Chiesa’s future in limbo

Federico Chiesa’s chances of heading back to Juventus look pretty shaky. The club seems to have moved on to other attacking targets.

Juve are chasing Jean-Philippe Mateta and Daniel Maldini right now. They’re in talks with Crystal Palace about Mateta, and they’re also thinking about bringing Maldini, who’s at Atalanta, together with coach Luciano Spalletti.

Tuttosport says Maldini could be a more affordable option than Chiesa, which might explain the change in direction.