U-23 Centre-Backs from Europe's Top Leagues that Liverpool and top clubs SHOULD keep an eye on

There are names already out in the know, but the focus of article would be to unearth a couple of UNKNOWNS

Written on 27/11/2025

While a big summer window excited Liverpool fans and created optimism about what this “new” team could achieve, there was also a sense of apprehension that the recruitment had left the squad short in the centre-back department, even after the arrival of Giovanni Leoni(18).

I wrote an article on TransferHub a few days ago explaining why the Reds must sign two centre-backs, even if Ibrahima Konaté extends his contract beyond the coming summer. You can read that here, where I touched on the options Liverpool could consider among players who are already at their peak age (24 and above in age):

Why Liverpool need to sign TWO 'senior' centre-backs even if Konaté extends

Fast forward to late November (at the time this article was written) and the balance of the squad feels off, as expected. One could argue that had Liverpool managed to sign Marc Guéhi on deadline day, they would be in a far stronger position than what has been served up so far this season.

Let us assume the club signs either Guéhi (25) or Nico Schlotterbeck (25) in January or in the summer. They have already brought in Giovanni Leoni (18) from Italy in the previous summer, but unfortunately the youngster is set to miss around 10 months with an ACL injury. Would it therefore make sense to bring in another centre-back aged 23 or under, considering the age profile of the current centre-back options? Perhaps.

This is where the concept of this article comes in. We will look at centre-backs aged 23 and under from the top five European leagues, review their numbers from the 2025/26 season, and provide a shortlist of promising young defenders who could be transfer options not just for Liverpool, but for other top clubs across the continent.

There are already a few well-known names in that age bracket that most of us are familiar with. While we will touch on them, the main aim here is to highlight some of the lesser-known players. A playing-time filter has been applied so that we are focusing on players who are regulars for their respective teams.

Overall Passing and Ball Progression

If a top team in Europe is looking for a central defender, you would naturally expect them to scout players who are not only strong in duels and reliable defensively, but also technically proficient on the ball to help the team progress play from the back.

Below, we have a data visual showing progressive passing and the proportion of passes played into the final third among defenders in the top five European leagues.

Open-play passes considered only!

There are a few familiar names and some lesser-known ones in the top-right quadrant, where both the proportion of progressive passes and passes into the final third are above average among defenders aged 23 and under in the big five European leagues.

Murillo of Nottingham Forest is enjoying another good season in the Premier League, while Dean Huijsen and Joško Gvardiol are performing well, as expected, in terms of ball progression through passing. Guéla Doué, a right-back who is comfortable operating as a centre-back, is currently playing for Strasbourg, and Omar El Hilali, who offers a similar profile for Espanyol, also appears in the top-right quadrant. But, the latter, with less than 85%, possesses one of the lowest pass accuracy rates.

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