Liverpool contact Besiktas target and Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu over summer transfer

Liverpool are reportedly considering an approach in signing Barcelona defender Jeremy Mathieu in the summer transfer window. The 32-year-old joined the Catalan club from Valencia in 2014 and his future at Camp Nou remains uncertain.

According to Le Parisien via Le10Sport, the Reds have made contact with the France international as Jurgen Klopp looks to bolster their defence for the 2016/17 season. The former Borussia Dortmund manager allowed Kolo Toure to leave Anfield as a free agent, while Martin Skrtel completed his move to Fenerbahce.

In addition to this, Joe Gomez suffered another injury setback and he joins Mamadou Sakho in Anfield's treatment room as the latter was ruled out for a month due to an Achilles problem. The situation leaves the German coach with Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren as the only two centre-backs in the squad.

The Merseyside club are in the market for a new central defender in the summer transfer window and Klopp has turned his attention towards Mathieu. He is a versatile player and can play either as a centre-half or a full-back.

Mathieu was set to be included in the France squad for Euro 2016, but an injury forced him to miss out on the tournament and was replaced by Samuel Umtiti. The latter left Lyon and completed a move to Barcelona.

The arrival of Umtiti and Lucas Digne raised questions over Mathieu's future at the club. Spanish publication Sport claims the versatile Frenchman is not included in Luis Enrique's plans at the club for next season.

Liverpool are looking at the option of signing the France international this summer, but the Reds are not the only club interested in his services. Sport also claims that Besiktas are also keen on landing Mathieu and have already made a €7m (£5.8m, $7.7m) bid for his signature.

However, the Barcelona defender is open to the idea of making a switch to the Premier League. Should Mathieu be allowed to leave his current employers, he could then be open to the idea of playing under Klopp at Liverpool as he believes their style of play will suit him.