Pape Diakhate
Two foreign-based central defenders have been linked with Liverpool todat, the first is Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Amorebieta and the second is Pape Diakhate of Dynamo Kiev.
A report in the Daily Mail this morning claims: "Liverpool have been quoted a price of £7million for Dynamo Kiev central defender Pape Diakhate . Manager Rafael Benitez is keen to bring in another top stopper after a number of injury worries and Diakhate caught his eye when he went to watch Senegal play this summer."
Diakhate is a Senegalese international (21 caps), is 6.0ft and impressed in matches against Arsenal in the Champions League last season, he was also linked with the Gunners in December.
The 25-year-old speaks English and can also play as a defensive midfielder. He came through the ranks at Nancy and thanks to having France as a second nationality, he holds an EU passport.
According to IMScouting, Diakhate is an "aggressive, strong, fast, technical defender. Has had problems with marking and can struggle in the air. Sometimes he wants to make clever passes to his fellow defenders but loses the ball, which can end with a goal attempt or goal against his team."
Last season, Diakhate made 23 appearances and scored one goal, which came in the 2-1 win over Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in late November and it can be seen in the video below.