Liverpool face competition from Turkish giants in race to sign centre-back target

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According to the Mirror via A Spor, Turkish giants Fenerbahce have joined Liverpool in the battle to sign Real Betis defender Aissa Mandi.

The Mirror add that the Reds have already seen a £9m bid for the Algerian centre-back rejected, but they’re just £1.8m away from possibly meeting the La Liga outfit’s demands for the ace.

Jurgen Klopp’s in the market for reinforcements in central defence after selling Dejan Lovren to Zenit for £10.9m, as per BBC Sport.

It’s also added that the Reds will have to compete with fellow Premier League side West Ham for the 28-year-old’s signature.

Aissa Mandi in action for Betis.

Inside Futbol also report that Betis would still like to hold new contract talks with Mandi, the ace is in the final year of his current deal and the La Liga side ideally don’t want to lose such a key player.

Betis finished 15th in La Liga this season, the club’s defence is certainly shaky, with the Andalusian outfit conceding the second-most goals in Spain’s top-flight.

Mandi could be the kind of experienced option to better compete with Joe Gomez for the spot to partner stalwart Virgil van Dijk, especially as Joel Matip has been struggling with injuries as of late.

Mandi has won 55 caps for Algeria, the ace joined Betis in the summer of 2016 from French outfit Reims.

Liverpool are of course a monumentally bigger club than the other sides linked with Mandi, it’s unclear what the ace’s playing time demands are, the other clubs could make him a guaranteed starter.

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