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Liverpool are in talks to sign highly-rated young centre-back Ifeanyi Ndukwe from Austria Vienna.

The Austria youth international defender does not turn 18 until March but the hope is that a deal can be agreed for him to move to Merseyside for the start of pre-season training in July.

Ndukwe would be recruited as part of Rob Page’s under-21s development squad initially but is viewed as a player with the potential to make the step up to the senior set-up.

He has been identified by Liverpool’s director of global talent Matt Newberry and his team. Newberry was promoted to that new role just over a year ago having previously been the club’s head of senior academy recruitment and then head of loans and pathways.

Ndukwe was part of the Austria team who reached the final of the Under-17s World Cup in Qatar in November where they lost 1-0 to Portugal.

At 6ft 5ins, the Vienna-born defender is an imposing figure and has made rapid progress through the youth ranks at his boyhood club.

After captaining their Under-16s, he was a regular at reserve team level for Austria Vienna in 2024-25 and signed a three-year professional contract last June. He has been on the bench for the first team this season but has yet to make his Austrian Bundesliga debut.

Since 2021, following the UK’s exit from the European Union, Premier League clubs aren’t able to sign young players from overseas until after they have turned 18.

James Pearce joins the Athletic after 14 years working for the Liverpool Echo. The dad-of-two has spent the past decade covering the fortunes of Liverpool FC across the globe to give fans the inside track on the Reds from the dressing room to the boardroom. Follow James on Twitter @JamesPearceLFC