Liverpool are set to open up transfer negotiations with Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi, according to the Daily Express.
The 24-year-old has been linked with a move away from Madrid to English shores, with both Liverpool, and Arsenal showing an interest in the player over recent weeks.
Illarramendi looks set to depart the Bernabeu, having fallen out of Carlo Ancelotti’s plans at Real, with Toni Kroos and Lucas Silva currently in-front of him in the pecking order.
And Liverpool are seemingly the favourites to land the Spain international, who signed from Malaga in 2013.
The Reds are keen to find a replacement for LA Galaxy-bound midfielder, Steven Gerrard, and are plotting to launch a £17m bid.
by Ben Reardon
