On Thursday evening it was announced that Barcelona would not be able to retain the services of Lionel Messi for the upcoming season, with the forward now begining the search for his new club as he prepares to enter the twilight years of his career.
The La Liga club have been embroiled in a financial crisis for the previous few years, after spending in excess of £300m on Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann.
The Spanish giants were offered a financial lifeline earlier in the week, if they agreed to scupper any flickering hopes they still had of forming a European Super League they would receive a slice of a private equity investment in La Liga.
The investment would have allowed Barcelona to, even if briefly, escape some of the financial restraints they are currently adhering to and tie their greatest ever player down to a new deal.
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With Messi now a free agent, it seems to be a straight shoot-out between Europe's financial powerhouses to see who will secure the signature of the six-time Ballon D'or winner.
PSG appear to be winning the race for his signature, at present, with numerous reports suggesting that the French club have already approached Messi and his entourage about a potential deal.
But with PSG already adding extortionate wages to their ranks this summer with the likes of Gini Wijnaldum, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Neymar Jr's improved contract, any deal to bring Messi to the French capital would surely require an offload of some kind.
And that's where Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool could be set to profit.
In the eyes of many, the Reds are still short of options in the middle of the park as they are yet to address the departure of Wijnaldum, who was ever-present in the Premier League last season.
And with Mauricio Pochettino ruling out the sale of Kylian Mbappe, Liverpool could help the Parisians raise funds by making a move for Leandro Paredes.
Paredes would provide the Reds with versatility in midfield, something they look deprived of ahead of the new campaign.
There is no doubting that Liverpool's strongest midfield consists of Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson sitting ahead of Fabinho, but Klopp's sustainability worry stems from the fact he was only able to name that midfield once last season.
In addition to Fabinho's injury record being far from reassuring, Liverpool find themselves in dire need of a midfielder capable of deputising for the Brazilian, if and when required.
Furthermore, Parades seems to fit the profile like a glove, given that he has mainly featured as a defensive midfielder during his time in France, as well as racking up minutes in a more advanced role.
Having only appeared in 58% of PSG's league games over the previous two campaigns (38/65), and at the practical age of 27, the Argentine midfielder could be one of those sacrificed in order to accommodate the arrival of his compatriot this summer.
