Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is reportedly giving up on signing a new centre-back and will rather ask Fabinho to slot into the defence when necessary.

The Premier League champions were thought to be on look-out for a replacement for Dejan Lovren, who sealed a £10.9m move to Zenit St Petersburg.

The Croatian made 15 appearances last season before ending a six-year spell at Anfield. He had fallen to fourth-choice centre-back in the pecking order behind Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

A number of pricey and big name replacements were, as a result, linked with the Reds. The costliest of those, Diego Carlos of Sevilla, comes with a €75m asking price. That’s after Liverpool were told to forget any hopes of landing the Brazilian on the cheap.

Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly would also come with a mammoth price tag, while Schalke’s Ozan Kabak is valued at £32m.

But with Liverpool unlikely to spend big money this summer, it seems Klopp could instead ask Fabinho to cover at the back when needed.

The Brazilian star has made a big impact in midfield since signing from Monaco for €55m in May 2018.

During his time at the club, Liverpool have won four trophies with Fabinho a calming influence in front of the back four.

On a few occasions, Klopp has asked Fabinho to drop into the heart of the defence. Most notably, during a 1-0 win at Brighton the season before last when he caught the eye.

Now, according to the Liverpool Echo, Klopp will ask Fabinho to act as cover during the 2020/21 season should the need arise.

The paper claims as a result, Klopp will now abandon his plan to sign a new centre-half.

Liverpool could have the flexibility to move Fabinho back should the Reds prove successful in their push to sign Thiago Alcantara. On Monday, Bild accused the Bayern star of ‘lying’ over his future amid links to Anfield.

- TEAMtalk media