Liverpool Targets Finn Jeltsch for €50m Move in 2027

Liverpool’s long-term rebuild at the back is already taking shape, and one name is starting to circle around Anfield with growing regularity: Finn Jeltsch.

The Stuttgart defender, one of the Bundesliga’s standout teenage centre-backs last season, has reportedly landed on Liverpool’s list as the club map out their plans for 2027. The price tag is clear enough. So is the competition.

A defence built on uncertainty

The picture at centre-back is anything but settled.

Virgil van Dijk’s contract runs out next summer. Joe Gomez is in the same situation. Ronald Araujo is only on loan, and his stay becomes permanent only if Liverpool trigger a €50m option.

Strip those three away and the future suddenly looks thin. Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni are the only centre-backs guaranteed to be at the club beyond this season. Both are talented. Both are also unknown quantities at elite level.

Jacquet, 21, is returning from shoulder surgery. Leoni, just 19, has been sidelined for around a year with a serious knee injury. It is a foundation, but a fragile one. No wonder Liverpool are already scanning the market for 2027.

Jeltsch on the rise

Into that context steps Jeltsch.

According to TuttoJuve, Liverpool are among several European heavyweights monitoring the 19-year-old, who enjoyed a breakout campaign with Stuttgart. His numbers underline why so many are watching.

Jeltsch was one of only 14 teenage centre-backs to log at least 1,000 minutes across Europe’s top five leagues last season. Push that threshold to 1,500 minutes and the list shrinks to 10 – with Value Adder data placing him around fifth in that elite group.

Stuttgart know exactly what they have. They are not inclined to sell on the cheap and have set the asking price at around €50m. Arsenal, Manchester United and Bayern Munich are all credited with interest. This will not be a quiet auction.

Does another youngster make sense?

That is where the dilemma starts for Liverpool.

On one hand, Jeltsch fits the profile of a “massive talent” the club have often backed. On the other, adding yet another young centre-back to a core that already skews heavily towards potential rather than experience raises obvious questions.

Right now, the only centre-backs certain to be at Liverpool beyond this season have an average age of 20. Dropping another 20-year-old into that mix in 2027 would load even more responsibility onto a very young unit.

It might look risky. It might also be where the market value lies.

For now, Jeltsch is one more name on a growing shortlist and one more battle brewing with Europe’s elite. If Liverpool do decide to swing, it will say plenty about how boldly they intend to reshape their defence for the next era.