Liverpool are looking a little short in the defensive department, so it's no surprise to see them linked with an array of players and they could land themselves a centre-back bargain if latest reports are to be believed.

What's the word?

According to The Athletic, the Premier League champions' financial constraints have pretty much written off any chances of making a move for either Kalidou Koulibaly or Diego Carlos.

Though, a move for Real Betis powerhouse Aissa Mandi is "cheaper and more realistic".

It's believed that the La Liga outfit want €12m (£11m) for his services following a €10m (£9m) bid earlier this month, as per Dario de Sevilla, via Sport Witness.

Lovren successor

The Reds offloaded Dejan Lovren for £10.9m to Zenit St Petersburg in July, leaving only three senior centre-backs at Jurgen Klopp's disposal, so they'd be rather wise to use that money to land Mandi this summer.

He may not be as luxurious as Koulibaly nor a stonecold beast like Carlos, but he'd still be a huge bargain at that price.

The 28-year-old is very much a class ball-playing defender having averaged 62 passes per game at an accuracy rate of 89.7%, which also includes a whopping 4.7 long attempts, too, via WhoScored.

Mandi has also managed 3 clearances, 1.3 interceptions and 1.1 tackles each appearance in La Liga this season.

Earlier in the campaign, he was part of the Betis side to shutout title-winners Real Madrid at the Bernabeu - keeping a front three of Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema and Rodrygo at bay is certainly no mean feat.

Only Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique have been better at playing out from the back than the Betis colossus.

Michael Edwards should absolutely sanction a move for Mandi as he'll be filling a vital need all for a very decent price.

AND in other news, Liverpool must sell two outcasts to land Klopp TARGET...