Liverpool transfer news as scouts 'watch' Atalanta duo amid Florian Wirtz claim
It may be September but the transfer rumor mill never stops and the latest reports provide exciting news for Liverpool fans.
The Reds have started the season in positive fashion following five wins from six games and although the squad looks to be in good shape, it hasn't stopped them from drawing up early plans ahead of next summer.
It's widely known that Liverpool is keen on a new defender and a defensive midfielder but it appears recruiting in other areas of the pitch is creeping its way up the transfer priority list, most notably in attack as Mohamed Salah's long-term future remains unsolved.
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But Liverpool's transfer business could be set to begin in Italy, where it's being reported that club scouts have been sent to watch exciting Atalanta duo Ademola Lookman and Ederson, both of whom were linked with a move to Anfield over the summer.
According to TBR Football, representatives were sent to watch the duo play against Arsenal in the Champions League last week, where the Serie A outfit held the Gunners to a 0-0 draw. Both Lookman and Ederson were named in the starting lineup for the stalemate, before the former was substituted after 89 minutes.
Liverpool was linked with signing former Everton star Lookman before swooping for Federico Chiesa, while Ederson was linked as a potential midfield alternative to Martin Zubimendi, yet neither deal materialized. Now, however, things appear to be back in motion ahead of next summer.
Should any potential deal for Lookman fall through, though, then Liverpool could be expected to swoop for Bayer Leverkusen winger Florian Wirtz, who ripped up the Bundesliga last season to help Xabi Alonso's side lift the title - and hasn't started the current campaign too badly, either.
Recent reports claim the Reds hold an interest in the player but according to journalist Diego Mengual, Liverpool is willing "to go all in" and pay $134million (£101m) to sign the German international, which is "what Leverkusen is asking for".
Should Salah leave at the end of the campaign then this could be a very likely outcome given the financial resources the Reds will have once it stops paying the Egyptians $466,000-a-week (£350,000) wages - and Wirtz is also believed to be keen on a departure from Germany.