Liverpool have been dragged into a huge transfer saga surrounding Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo over the last 48 hours and Jurgen Klopp will surely be unimpressed with the ongoing situation.
How much did Liverpool offer for Moises Caicedo?
The Reds agreed a huge record-breaking £111m fee with the Seagulls in the earlier hours of Friday morning, however, it has been reported heavily by Italian journalist and transfer insider Fabrizio Romano that Caicedo is only interested in signing for Chelsea this summer.
With just over a fortnight left to secure the much-needed reinforcements in midfield before the transfer window closes, the powerbrokers at Anfield need to quickly identify alternatives to sign instead of the Ecuodorian, which shouldn't be too difficult to achieve considering there is clearly a healthy budget available.
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Who are Liverpool's transfer targets?
The Merseyside giants have been linked with a number of midfielders over the summer so far and following the unexpected departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, the midfield rebuild at Anfield has become an even more desperate for the club.
Like Caicedo, Southampton youth prospect has been heavily linked with both Liverpool and Chelsea over the last few months, however, the Reds could now be looking further afield to secure the experience and quality they need in the six role this season.
Liverpool have been again linked with a move for Real Madrid star Aurelien Tchouameni, a player who could be the answer to Klopp's biggest headache.
In a report by The Telegraph at the end of last month, Chris Bascombe revealed that Liverpool could potentially explore another move for Tchouameni in their pursuit to strengthen the defensive roles in the centre of the pitch.
It was also reported in June that Liverpool had made a €55m (£47m) bid, however, the offer was short of Real Madrid's expectations, with Florentino Perez demanding nothing short of €80m (£69m) to part ways with the midfielder.
There is no doubt that Tchouameni possesses the quality and winning mentality to make an instant impact at Anfield, as well as being the perfect profile of player to work alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister to complete the midfield transformation.
The Frenchman is one of the hottest midfield prospects across the top five European leagues – ranking in the top 15% of his positional peers for pass completion, clearances, aerial duels won and shots on goal, as per FBref.
Over 33 La Liga appearances last season, the 23-year-old – once hailed as "pure gold" by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – registered four assists, tallied up an impressive 94% pass completion rate, successfully completed 78% of his dribbles and won 66% of his duels combined, as well as averaging 63.1 touches per game, demonstrating his dominance in the centre of the pitch.
Indeed, Tchouameni previously rejected a move to Anfield when he joined Real Madrid last summer, however, with Jude Bellingham arriving at the Bernabeu and only 24 starts in the Spanish top-flight last season, there is no reason why Liverpool couldn't present an attractive prospect for the player by making him the star man in the six role.
With that being said, it remains to be seen whether the France international would be open to a move to Merseyside this summer, but Klopp is running out of time to fill the position with a return to Premier League football commencing this weekend against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
