Liverpool and City Lock Horns Over Lens Starlet Baidoo in Potential Record Deal

The battle for defensive reinforcements at the Premier League's elite continues to intensify, with Liverpool and Manchester City readying themselves for a high-stakes pursuit of RC Lens' Samson Baidoo.

The 21-year-old Austrian has caught the attention of England's top sides, though both clubs have recently bolstered their backlines. Liverpool brought in Giovanni Leoni from Parma during the summer window and have committed £60million to securing Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes later in 2026. City, meanwhile, snapped up Marc Guehi for £20million in January—a deal that slipped through Liverpool's fingers at the eleventh hour last summer.

Baidoo's stock has risen considerably in France, and with good reason. Scouts have lauded the young defender as a 'tactical mastermind' blessed with explosive athleticism and remarkable speed. He possesses the physical prowess to withstand Premier League forwards whilst maintaining the pace required to operate as Lens' final defensive barrier.

Liverpool view the Austrian as the long-term answer to their Virgil van Dijk succession plan, with the Dutchman now 34. City, by contrast, are plotting a different strategy—acquire Baidoo and loan him back to Lens for another campaign before integrating him into their setup.

Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan are also circling, but Liverpool and City have established themselves as the frontrunners in this particular race. Lens have slapped a €45-55m (£39-48m) price tag on their prized asset, which would represent a new transfer record for the club, surpassing the €40million windfall they received from RB Leipzig for Lois Openda.

Yet there's a caveat worth considering. For Liverpool specifically, focusing resources on an unproven commodity may prove counterproductive in their pursuit of another Premier League title. The Anfield hierarchy are understood to be keeping tabs on more established defensive targets: Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni, Tottenham's Micky van de Ven, and Borussia Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck all feature on their radar.

Bastoni appears ready for pastures new this summer, whilst Real Madrid are leading the charge for Schlotterbeck—potentially ruling out the German. Van de Ven, however, represents Liverpool's most realistic option. The Dutchman is battle-hardened in the Premier League and hardly deserves to be languishing in a relegation scrap at Spurs.

Securing Van de Ven would provide Liverpool with a proven operator capable of easing the transition away from van Dijk's era. Simultaneously, the club are pushing to tie down Ibrahima Konate to fresh terms, finally putting to bed speculation linking him with Real Madrid.