Ifeanyi Ndukwe could be in line to bolster the Liverpool defence in January.James Pearce reports for The Athletic that the Austrian centre-half only needs to play one league game to become eligible to play competitive football for the Reds.The 18-year-old impressed in pre-season but lacked the points at the time to qualify for a UK work permit.Liverpool may have impressive depth at centre-half come the new year(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)There is a world in which the Merseysiders could draw on Ndukwe as a resource come January.At present, there are technically enough in the way of options available to see Liverpool through the coming months.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustJeremy Jacquet and loan signing Ronald Araujo have already impressed in the famous red shirt following their summer arrivals, and there’s an expectation that Joe Gomez should be available once again this September.Giovanni Leoni, however, will take some more time to recover from his ACL injury picked up last year and isn’t expected to return much before the end of the year.Assuming all goes well with the Italian’s recovery, of course, Andoni Iraola could then be able to call upon:Virgil van DijkJeremy JacquetRonald AraujoGiovanni LeoniIfeanyi NdukweJoe GomezFar from terrible depth at centre-back, but it is reliant on the club somehow surviving through to the new year without picking up any further injuries in the position.Reminder of Ifeanyi Ndukwe’s dominant display vs Monaco(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)Not to get overly excited about what a teenager could offer this season, but we’re sure it won’t have escaped fans’ memory just how dominant Ifeanyi Ndukwe appeared in pre-season.His 45 minutes against Monaco certainly caught the eye, with the defender winning all ground and aerial duels attempted.Ifeanyi Ndukwe’s stats vs Monaco (pre-season)3/3 ground duels won1/1 aerial duel won6 defensive contributions2 recoveries0 times dribbled past23/24 accurate passes* Ifeanyi Ndukwe’s stats from a 45-minute pre-season appearance (Fotmob)We should emphasise that we have no expectation of him earning a ludicrous amount of minutes post-January.However, we still don’t have a clear picture of what condition Giovanni Leoni will return in and how soon he’ll be able to take to the pitch after such a serious injury.So there could be a great opportunity for Ndukwe to get game time in Europe’s toughest league following what we hope will have been an impressive loan spell with Levante.More Stories / Latest News‘Great signing’ – Kevin Nolan backs Liverpool summer arrival to be a ‘huge success’ at AnfieldSeptember 3, 2026 8:52Not Camara: Andoni Iraola already has one Liverpool transfer lined up for JanuarySeptember 3, 2026 8:48How Liverpool chiefs feel about Reds’ summer transfer window amid outcry from fans and punditsSeptember 3, 2026 7:48The post Not Camara: Andoni Iraola already has one Liverpool transfer lined up for January appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.