‘Had conversations’ - manager confirms he wants to sign Liverpool defender

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes has confirmed that he would like to re-sign Liverpool defender Luke Chambers.

The versatile left-sided defender completed a loan move to the Scottish Premiership outfit during the January transfer window.

And Chambers' first spell of senior football proved highly fruitful. The 18-year-old played 16 times for Killie as they successfully retained their top-flight status. What’s more, Chambers declined a spot in England's squad for the under-20 World Cup to stay for the relegation fight.

The teeanager put pen to paper on a new contract at Anfield last month, with Jurgen Klopp previously saying that Chambers has 'everything for a centre-half, except a body'.

With Chambers still developing physically, he could well be loaned out again for the 2023-24 season to enhance his experience. And Kilmarnock would love to have him back.

Via The Herald, McInnes said: “We were really pleased with Ben Chrisene until his injury and then Luke came in. We got Luke in as soon as Ben was out for the season.

“Luke is one I would really like to work with again. We’ve had conversations with Luke, his family, his agent, and Liverpool and everyone agrees how good a loan it was.

“It’s whether Liverpool sees that as the right thing for him. They are totally in charge of that situation. Certainly, if there was an indication or encouragement to do that deal, we would like to bring him back.

“I said to Luke: You are now our PR guy at Liverpool! You need to reinforce how good it is for any boys we are looking for. He will walk back into Liverpool feeling good about himself. We’ve got a good relationship with them through Russ [Richardson], but Luke’s loan reinforces it.

“We feel we’ve got a strong relationship with Arsenal even though Ryan Alebiosu didn’t have as much of an impact as we’d hoped in the second half of the campaign, and Aston Villa we’re on good terms with.

“It’s important we have these relationships with these clubs, we want to be the first call when they want to put their younger players out. I think we’ve got a bit of credit in the bank with Liverpool just now, young Luke will help when it comes to the future.”