LIVERPOOL are set to seal a deal worth up to £43m for Club Brugge defender Joel Ordonez in the next couple of days.
Ecuador international Ordonez, 21, is poised to join the Reds after Chelsea withdrew from the race.
The initial fee for the centre back will be in the region of £35m, but add-ons could take the final cost much higher.
Ordonez won the Belgian league with Brugge in 2023/4 and is playing in the Champions League for the second season in a row.
Ordonez is no relation to Deinner Ordonez, the 16-year-old defender who has agreed to move to Chelsea when he turns 18.
But both are products of Independiente del Valle, the leading club in Ecuador.
Independiente have produced several high-profile talents, including Blues star Moises Caicedo.
Liverpool‘s signing of the older Ordonez would be a big statement after their recruitment last summer did not pan out as they had hoped.
A £35m move for Crystal Palace‘s Marc Guehi collapsed on deadline day when Palace could not find a suitable replacement.
And Geovanni Leoni, the teenage centre back signed from Parma in a deal worth up to £26m, suffered a serious ACL injury on his Reds debut in September.
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Liverpool are yet to agree a new contract with Ibrahima Konate, who will be free to start talking to overseas clubs from New Years’ Day.
Ordonez would give Arne Slot an immediate, high-quality option at centre half as the reigning champions try to continue the recovery from the wretched run that wrecked their title defence.
The Reds will be back in action tomorrow afternoon, welcoming relegation battlers Leeds United to Anfield.
