Liverpool is on the heels of one of the globe's premier attacking midfield prodigies in Florian Wirtz, with Reds legend Xabi Alonso, who has watched over Wirtz's development first-hand, valuing the Bayer Leverkusen star highly
The 22-year-old sensation flourished under Alonso's stewardship in Germany and was pivotal in spearheading Leverkusen to a maiden German championship victory last season.
This campaign, his stunning performances have been quantified by 16 goals and 15 assists out of 45 appearances in all competitions.
Despite interest from European heavyweights like Bayern Munich and Manchester City, it seems Liverpool has now edged ahead in the chase for Wirtz.
With Bayern stepping back from the chase, the Reds are seemingly gearing up to potentially break their transfer record to inject further dynamism into Arne Slot's squad that has tasted league success.
Alonso, poised to take over at Real Madrid, has extolled Wirtz's virtues. Earlier this month, he remarked, "Flo is one of the top players in the world; he is world class. Flo has a very mature mind. The people around him, his parents, they want the best for him."
On the potential transfer, he said: "They are in a very important moment of his career. Whatever he does, I am really close to Flo and I will be happy for him. Let's wait a little bit. It's normal in football that there are rumours, especially with such a special player.
Florian Wirtz.
Florian Wirtz is seemingly heading for Anfield (Image: Photo by Pau Barrena/Getty Images)
"There were rumors (in the past), there are rumours today and there will be rumours in the future. You need to deal with them and not take them too seriously."
Although neither Liverpool nor Leverkusen have officially confirmed the deal, Bayern Munich's president Herbert Hainer hinted on Saturday that the transfer is likely to go ahead, saying: "Max Eberl [sporting director] informed me that Florian Wirtz is probably leaning towards Liverpool."
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Meanwhile, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann revealed he spoke to the player and offered some advice about his transfer decision. He said: "We exchanged a few messages. I tried to give him tips to the best of my knowledge and belief.
"I told him I can't make the decision for him because my opinion is not necessarily the right one.
"The final decision is his. I didn't rule out any club, I just tried to explain things to him and give him tips. I'm excited to find out about his decision."