LIVERPOOL are set to step up their pursuit of Tiago Ilori and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as Brendan Rodgers’ summer revamp at Anfield gathers pace.
And the Reds also hope to find out in the next 24 hours whether their bid to sign Spanish starlet Luis Alberto from Sevilla has been successful.
Rodgers is eager to get a sizeable chunk of his transfer business done early, and having returned from a family holiday at the weekend, is hopeful of making progress on a number of fronts in the coming days.
Iago Aspas’ £7.7m move from Celta Vigo is on the verge of completion, though a delay in finalising the paperwork means the deal has not been confirmed by the club yet. Aspas returned to Spain late on Wednesday evening, with his brother and agent, Jonathan, citing “bureaucratic issues” for the delay. Liverpool, however, still expect the deal to go through.
Their next priority is to secure a deal for Ilori. The Reds have been locked in negotiations with the defender’s club, Sporting Lisbon, and believe they are close to agreeing a fee for the 20-year-old.
Sporting had initially wanted a deal worth around 5m Euros (£4.2m), but Liverpool’s initial bids have been closer to the £3m mark.
But with the player having privately indicated his desire to move to Merseyside, a compromise deal should be agreed in the next few days.
And Liverpool could look to follow that with a move for Shakhtar Donestk star Mkhitaryan. The Reds had the midfielder scouted during Armenia’s 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Denmark in Copenhagen on Tuesday, and are ready to step up their interest in the 24-year-old.
Mkhitaryan would not come cheap, with Shakhtar likely to demand around £20m. But with Luis Suarez’s future unclear, and Andy Carroll edging closer to completing a move to West Ham United, Rodgers is ready to redouble his efforts to sign the highly-rated playmaker.
The deal for Luis Alberto, meanwhile, looks set to hinge on the next 24 hours.
Alberto spent last season on loan with Barcelona, and the Catalans have an option to make the move permanent for a pre-agreed fee.
That option, however, expires today. And should Barcelona fail to exercise it, then Liverpool are confident the 20-year-old midfielder will make the switch to Merseyside.
