Liverpool’s Defensive Business: Ronald Araújo and Héctor Fort Rumors

Ronald Araújo’s arrival was supposed to close the book on Liverpool’s defensive business this summer. A seasoned centre half who can also operate at right back, the Uruguayan looked like the final piece in a back line rebuild that didn’t need any more tinkering.

Yet Spain is already pushing a different storyline.

Reports from Sport link Barcelona’s 20-year-old right back Héctor Fort with Liverpool, dropping his name into a familiar transfer scramble that also includes Inter Milan, Fulham, and Tottenham. When that many clubs are mentioned in one breath, the noise level rises, but the signal can be harder to find.

Right now, the clearest path for Fort doesn’t seem to run through Anfield at all. It runs through Goodison.

Everton are being framed as the most realistic destination for the defender, who has spent the last decade climbing through Barcelona’s academy system. Fort already has 24 senior appearances for Barça, with 20 of those coming in the 2024-25 season, and he spent the previous campaign on loan at Elche to harden his game in senior football.

Not long ago, Fort was tipped as the heir apparent at right back for the Catalan club. That internal belief has cooled. The spotlight has shifted to fellow prospect Xavi Espart as the more likely long-term solution on the flank, and that change in hierarchy has opened a door.

Barcelona, once convinced Fort was the future, now reportedly see him as available.

The only question left is which Premier League club moves quickly enough to test that resolve.