Liverpool have reportedly turned their attentions towards Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele after cooling their interest in RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is known to be a big fan of Werner, who has scored a hugely impressive 24 goals in 28 Bundesliga appearances this season, but as thing stand they are not willing to meet the German club's £50m valuation of the player, with Leipzig currently not prepared to accept anything less.
They are now looking at alternatives, and according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo Dembele is one of the options they are exploring.
The 23-year-old Frenchman became one of the most expensive players in the world when Barcelona splashed out on a deal worth a staggering £135.5m to sign him from Dortmund in 2017.
But Dembele has failed to live up to expectations at the Nou Camp after suffering a number of injuries, and he has made just five appearances in La Liga all season, scoring only once.
Barcelona have been hit hard financially by the coronavirus crisis, and are desperate to offload some of their highest-earning stars, with the likes of Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti all allegedly available.
It is believed they would accept a bid of around £40m for Dembele, and it would be no surprise to see Liverpool and a number of other teams make a bid when the transfer window eventually re-opens.
Dembele would have to work hard to get in the first-team at Liverpool, however, given the sensational form of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, and there also may be some concerns over his patchy injury record.
But Klopp may feel he can get the best out of the former Rennes man, and it would certainly be intriguing to see whether he could resurrect his career at Anfield.
