After a slower than expected, and certainly more choppy, start to life at Liverpool and the pressures and expectations of Anfield, former Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola appears to be better finding his feet.
Ten games into the 2026/27 Premier League campaign, the Reds are now sat in fourth place in the table and the all important Champions League spots, and five wins and three draws looks a lot more healthy than it had done with more recent results and performances. The 44 year old Spaniard is still searching for some real consistency in the team, and whilst defensively there are definitely issues to be addressed, on an offensive front we are slowly beginning to click.
With the next international break now upon us again and fans taking the chance to reassess their football betting UK predictions, there will inevitably be an uptick in the claims made on the speculation rumour mill, and we are of course, quickly heading towards the January transfer window which will open again when we roll through to the New Year. One early link that the Anfield faithful can probably get used to is Koni De Winter.
The 24 year old centre half is pretty well known on the Continent, and for those fans who the Italian Serie A closely, he will already be familiar to them as back in 2018 when Juventus signed him, he became the first Belgian player to ever represent the Old Lady. Having later moved on to Genoa, in the summer of 2025 he signed for AC Milan and the now eight capped international defender has begun making quite the name for himself.
Links with a centre half right now are perfectly sensible given the defensive issues Liverpool ave faced in more recent times, but De Winter is also pretty versatile. Whilst the former Under 23 captain is predominantly a centre back, he can play full back on both flanks, and has even featured as a defensive midfielder during his professional career so far. That would undoubtedly appeal to Iraola as well.
It is being reported that we have already been actively scouting him with an eye to making a potential future move, but quite predictably for rumour mill claims, the speculation also name checks Manchester United and Chelsea as having a strong interest in him. What does give these rumours a more genuine feel to them, is the fact that scouts from Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United and Brentford have all been spotted in recent weeks, so there is a growing buzz about him in Premier League circles.
It does not yet see that the player is angling for a move yet though, and despite some obvious struggles for Ruben Amorim at AC, De Winter is quickly becoming one of their standout performers and a very obvious choice to sacrifice and cash in should they choose to.
It is likely that his name will continue to surface between now and the New Year, but it will be interesting to see whether or not we, or anyone else, take a punt on him in January and see if we can force AC's hand before his stock rises even further.