It's claimed Liverpool has informed Barcelona of its interest in Brazilian winger Raphinha, who has started this season in brilliant form for the Blaugrana.
Raphinha has directly contributed to 27 goals in 23 appearances for Hansi Flick's side, which sits at the top of the La Liga table and in second place in the Champions League standings. TBR Football says that Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City all enquired about Raphinha during the summer transfer window, and remain in contact with intermediaries.
Barcelona's financial problems in recent years are well documented, and any interested party would be ready to pounce were the Spanish club to indicate that it was willing to sell Raphinha in order to raise funds.
However, it is claimed that Barca has no intention of letting go of Raphinha, who was appointed club captain earlier this year. The situation Barcelona currently finds itself in with Dani Olmo is said to have alerted the clubs that are interested in signing Raphinha to his potential availability.
Barcelona faces not being able to register Olmo for the second half of the season due to La Liga's salary cap rules, but the Catalan club intends on finding a solution to the issue without offloading Raphinha. Raphinha has predominantly played on the left wing for Barca this season, and Liverpool already has two players in that position in Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo.
However, Diaz has been used as a striker on a number of occasions and, were he to play there more frequently, as Arne Slot suggested he might, that could open up a place in Liverpool's squad for a new left winger.
"Lucho can play in that position (as a striker)," Slot said of Diaz this week. "He has done very well for us in that role. He has played more games as a winger but we know he can do it. Darwin and Jota are there but Lucho is definitely an option."