Liverpool's pursuit of Darwin Nunez is gathering pace as fresh reports of an opening bid emerge. As the ECHO confirmed last night, the Reds are increasingly hopeful they can win the race for the 22-year-old Benfica star.
Manchester United, Newcastle United and Atletico Madrid are also thought to be in the hunt for Nunez, but it is believed the Uruguay international would favour a switch to Anfield to work with Jurgen Klopp.
Sources in Portugal have indicated Liverpool could offer a five-year contract, with a fee of €80m (£68.4m) plus €20m (£17.1m) in add-ons being touted.
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Today, there have been new suggestions in the media that an 'official bid' is now being prepared by transfer chief Julian Ward and owners FSG. Man United are said to have kept in contact with Nunez's agent - but Liverpool could have the upper hand if they move first.
Another account, from Portuguese outlet CMTV, indicates a proposal may already be on the table for Benfica to consider.
In comments that strike an encouraging note for Liverpool, Sport Witness quote pundit Nuno Dias as saying: "I have the information that Benfica already have the bid. The bid is already at Luz, it’s indeed of 80m plus 20m, and the player would’ve already said he’d sign it tomorrow (if given the chance)."
The SW article also cites CMTV as reporting that 'the Reds could include players in the offer to convince Benfica to accept it'.
That raises an unlikely but interesting prospect of a swap element to the deal, given there are several members of the Liverpool squad - Takumi Minamino, Neco Williams and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain chief among them - who are available with the club open to offers.
It remains to be seen how things will play out, particularly with the ongoing situation over Bayern Munich's interest in Sadio Mane. Two bids are known to have been made so far by the German giants, with neither close to meeting Liverpool's valuation of their attacker, who has one year left to run on his existing contract.
