Héctor Fort: Liverpool's Next Target Amid Competition

Ronald Araújo’s arrival looked like it had closed the door. A seasoned defender who can anchor the centre and slide across to right back if needed — on paper, Liverpool’s back line seemed stocked for the rest of the summer.

Yet the market rarely stays still for long.

Reports from Spain, via Sport, now link Barcelona right back Héctor Fort with a move to Anfield. The 20-year-old is being talked up as a target for Liverpool, but they are far from alone in that conversation. Inter Milan, Fulham, and Tottenham are all name-checked as admirers, a familiar roll call whenever a promising youngster edges towards the shop window.

The noise is one thing. The serious interest appears to be another.

Everton are being cast as the most likely destination for Fort at this stage. The defender has spent the last decade climbing through Barcelona’s academy system and already has 24 senior appearances to his name, 20 of those coming in the 2024-25 campaign. Last season he went out on loan to Elche, a key step in turning academy promise into first-team reality.

Not long ago, Fort was widely tipped as Barcelona’s right back of the future. Coaches and observers inside and around the club saw him as the natural heir on that flank. That outlook has shifted. The focus has moved towards fellow prospect Xavi Espart as the more probable long-term solution, and that change in internal belief has opened a door.

Now Fort is reportedly available, his decade-long rise at La Masia potentially ending with a move to the Premier League — and the question is no longer whether he leaves Barcelona, but which English club wins the race.