Liverpool Targets Andrei Rațiu for Right-Back Rebuild
Liverpool’s reshaping of their defence is set to continue with an opening bid for Rayo Vallecano right-back Andrei Rațiu, as the club move aggressively to fix a position that undermined their season.
Andoni Iraola, already backed to land Victor Munoz from Osasuna, is ready to raid La Liga again. This time the focus is on the flank that became a revolving door of stopgaps and compromises.
A quiet La Liga stalwart in Liverpool’s sights
Rațiu is not a headline name in England. In Spain, he is quietly regarded as one of the most underrated defenders in the division.
The 28-year-old has racked up 102 appearances for Rayo Vallecano since arriving three years ago, a consistent presence in a side that punched above its weight and went all the way to the UEFA Conference League final this year, where they fell to Crystal Palace.
His résumé is substantial. Thirty-eight caps for Romania. A Romanian Footballer of the Year award. Big-game experience in Europe. A player who has done his growing away from the Premier League glare, but not away from pressure.
Liverpool already have Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley on the books, yet SportsBoom report that Iraola wants a sharper edge to the competition on that side. Frimpong is still expected to start next season as first-choice, but the staff see Rațiu as a defender capable of stepping straight into Premier League intensity and closing the gap between starter and understudy.
What that means for academy graduate Bradley is not yet clear. The Northern Irishman has long been viewed as one for the future; a new arrival in his position would ask immediate questions of his pathway.
Price, contract and the negotiating game
Liverpool’s interest comes with a significant obstacle: Rațiu’s contract and Rayo’s leverage.
Vallecano are understood to be braced for offers in the region of £25 million. It is a strong stance backed by paperwork. Rațiu signed a new long-term deal in November 2025, tying him to the club for four more years and giving the La Liga side the comfort to hold their line in negotiations.
Iraola, though, is said to view Rațiu as excellent value in a market where proven, peak-age full-backs rarely come cheap. Liverpool are described as confident they can reach an agreement, with the prospect of performance-related add-ons and incentives forming part of a proposed package to tempt Vallecano into a sale.
The message from Anfield is clear: right-back will not be left to chance again.
Lessons from a bruising season at right-back
Liverpool’s problems on that flank last season were both predictable and costly.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free transfer to Real Madrid, after his contract expired, ripped out the club’s long-standing first-choice option and creative outlet from deep. Arne Slot walked into a squad suddenly stripped of its primary right-back and soon saw both Frimpong and Bradley hit by injury at key points.
The domino effect was brutal. Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai were both asked to plug the gap as auxiliary right-backs. Each did a job, but every minute they spent wide and deep left a hole in central midfield. Liverpool lost balance, lost rhythm, and the season’s early promise faded as makeshift solutions were exposed.
No one at Anfield has missed the lesson. Iraola’s first summer in charge has been built around ensuring that a “problem position” does not torpedo another campaign.
Jacquet and Leoni bolster the defensive reset
Rațiu is only one part of a wider rebuild.
Liverpool will confirm another defensive signing next week when Jeremy Jacquet completes his £55 million move from Rennes. The deal was agreed on winter deadline day, with the French defender allowed to finish the season in Ligue 1 before crossing to the Premier League.
There was an early scare. Jacquet suffered a serious shoulder injury soon after the transfer was announced, raising fears that his first pre-season under Iraola might be delayed. The Athletic reports that his rehabilitation is on track, and he is expected to be available for initial pre-season testing early next month.
There is more positive news at centre-back. Nineteen-year-old Giovanni Leoni, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup last September, is also understood to be on schedule to return in time for the start of pre-season.
Two centre-backs returning to fitness. A new right-back targeted. A manager intent on eliminating weak points.
Liverpool’s back line is being rebuilt with purpose. If Rațiu is the next piece to fall into place, the contest for that right flank at Anfield could become one of the most intriguing battles of their season.
