Liverpool are in direct contact with Crystal Palace over a move for their captain Marc Guehi – and the Premier League leaders are also ready to step up interest in fellow defender Giovanni Leoni, 18, of Parma.

The Premier League champions need at least one back-up defender to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £35million, while fellow centre back Joe Gomez has been injury prone in the last 12 months.

Daily Mail Sport reported in June how Guehi was of interest but the clubs were too far apart in their valuations. The England international has just one year remaining on his contract.

Palace wanted £45m then and Liverpool did not want to pay that – but there is a belief on both sides that a deal can be struck for around £35m.

We reported on Sunday how talks were due to take place this week, with Palace chairman Steve Parish admitting on Sunday that if the money is put on the table, the FA Cup winners would be forced to sell.

Guehi, who led Palace to an FA Cup triumph last season and victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield on Sunday, is heading into his last year under contract at Selhurst Park.

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Liverpool are in direct contact with Crystal Palace over a move for their captain Marc Guehi

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Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish admitted that, if the money was put on the table, the FA Cup winners would be forced to sell

Last season, the Eagles were after as much as £65million to sell their captain as Newcastle had a number of bids turned down.

Their bargaining power is somewhat weaker now but he would still command a fair fee, and they have this summer held talks to sign Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande for as much as £40m — a player Liverpool have scouted in the past.

Chelsea have not made a fresh approach for Guehi so far despite Levi Colwill’s injury as they concentrate on sales and signing Xavi Simons from Leipzig and Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United.

However, Chelsea do admire Bayer Leverkusen’s left sided defender Piero Hincapie.

That deal is separate to any move for Leoni. The Parma defender, as Daily Mail Sport reported last month, has been watched extensively last season and is a player that Liverpool like.

The Italian club want around £35m for the highly-rated teenager.

The Italy U19 has only played 17 times in Serie A but the Reds transfer department are understood to like Leoni a lot and are ready to pursue a move to sign him, if they can tempt him to leave his homeland.

Leoni is 6ft 5in and confident in possession, too. Liverpool want a young defender that can eventually step up and challenge to become a Van Dijk successor.

They have previously pursued Lenny Yoro, Jorrel Hato and Dean Huijsen in this mould – all moved to different clubs in the end but it showed their desire to recruit a young defender.