Liverpool transfer news: Reds ‘monitoring’ defender after enquiry

Liverpool have been ‘monitoring' Matteo Ruggeri ‘for a couple of years' ahead of a potential move this summer, according to Tuttomercatoweb (via Sport Witness).

The left-back has impressed at Atletico Madrid since joining last year, and he has also attracted interest from Tottenham.

Fiorentina have also ‘made concrete attempts' to sign Ruggeri, while Inter Milan see him as a replacement for Carlos Augusto.

AC Milan and Juventus have also enquired, while Liverpool made an enquiry for him when he played for Atalanta against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final in 2024, which Atalanta won.

Liverpool transfer news: Reds ‘monitoring' Ruggeri

The report states Ruggeri's exit would be ‘quite difficult', as Atleti intend to keep him and reject any offers.

However, every player has a price, and so Liverpool should not be too discouraged if they really want the player.

Having signed from Atalanta for only €17m (£14.5m), Atleti would likely want to make a big profit on Ruggeri should they be persuaded to sell, given he has emerged as a key player for them as evident by his 41 appearances in all competitions and three assists in Europe.

With competition from so many other sides too, Liverpool must decide quickly whether they want to actively pursue Ruggeri.

FW Verdict: Ruggeri would give Liverpool genuine competition for Kerkez

With the departure of Andy Robertson to Tottenham, Milos Kerkez is undoubtedly Liverpool's first-choice left-back.

Incidentally, he is a player that new head coach Andoni Iraola managed at Bournemouth, so it is likely that he will continue to play the Hungarian at Anfield.

However, with Kostas Tsimikas being on the fringes having previously been loaned out to Roma by the Reds, Kerkez lacks genuine competition in his position.

Ruggeri would certainly provide that, and should they be able to negotiate a fair price for the Italian and beat off the strong competition, he could prove to be a smart signing by Liverpool.