Who is Loic Bade? Liverpool 'agrees deal' for $26.4 million Virgil van Dijk replacement

Liverpool has reportedly agreed a deal with Sevilla to sign center-back Loic Bade, as uncertainty continues to surround the future of Virgil van Dijk.

Van Dijk is one of three key Liverpool players who are set to become free agents at the end of the season, with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold also into the final few months of their deals, and it sounds as though the Reds are making contingency plans for if the club captain leaves.

Spanish outlet TDF says that Sevilla has 'practically closed' the sale of Bade to Liverpool, with the report adding that Arne Slot is keen to add more rotation options in defense; Liverpool has lined up with Van Dijk alongside Ibrahima Konate in each of its last 14 matches across the Premier League and Champions League.

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It is claimed that a fee of around $26.4million has been agreed between the two sides, with Liverpool staving off competition from Aston Villa to land the 24-year-old.

Sevilla is said to be struggling financially, and the sale of Bade may be a necessary one in order to help the Spanish club to try to balance the books.

Who is Loic Bade?

Bade is a French defender, who was born in Sevres, a commune on the outskirts of Paris. Bade represented several clubs during his youth career, including Paris FC and Le Havre, and it is at Le Havre where he made his professional debut.

However, he only played seven times for Le Havre's first team before joining Lens in 2020, where he stayed for a year before signing for another French team in Rennes.

Again, Bade didn't stay for long at Rennes, spending just one season there before leaving on loan for Nottingham Forest in the first half of the 2022-23 season. Bade didn't make a single appearance for Forest, though, and his loan move was terminated in January 2023 as he went on to spend the second half of the campaign on loan at Sevilla.

A permanent move to Sevilla followed for Bade last summer, and it sounds as though his stay in southern Spain could be another short one, with a transfer to Liverpool seemingly in the pipeline.

Bade's breakthrough season with Sevilla earned him a place in France's squad for the Olympics, where he played in each of Les Bleus' six matches, and he was included in a senior squad by Didier Deschamps for the first time in October, but was an unused substitute for Nations League wins against Israel and Belgium.