Reports – Liverpool table formal offer for £51m South American star

Liverpool have submitted a formal opening bid for Otavio after offering Porto £19.7m [€23m] plus Marko Grujic in exchange for the attacking midfielder, according to A Bola.

Jurgen Klopp is trying to strengthen his squad this summer so his team can get back to challenging for major honours next season and Liverpool have already snapped up centre-back Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig.

The Reds are on the look out for a central midfielder to act as a replacement for Gini Wijnaldum following his free transfer move to Paris Saint-Germain but it appears Klopp is also in the market for another attacker.

Otavio has been strongly linked with a move to Anfield this month with A Bola, via 90Min, reporting recently that Liverpool were in advanced negotiations to sign the South American star this summer.

The Portuguese publication have now released an update and they claim Liverpool have tabled an opening offer to Porto worth £19.7m [€23m] plus Marko Grujic in exchange for Otavio’s signature.

According to A Bola, Porto are not interested in a player-plus-cash swap deal and insist Liverpool will have to pay the full value of the 26-year-old’s release clause if they want to get a deal agreed.

The report claims Otavio’s release clause is set at £34.4m [€40m] but the figure will increase to £51m [€60m] on July 1st. That means Liverpool have until the end of the day to trigger the £34.4m release fee or they face having to pay £51m for the Brazilian attacker.

It appears highly unlikely that Liverpool will get any deal agreed today so the Merseysiders will have to fork out a huge fee if they want to sign Otavio this summer – unless Porto lower their asking price.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming days but Otavio would be an exciting signing for Liverpool if they could get a deal agreed to take him to Anfield this summer.

The former Internacional star has impressed since joining Porto with his 5 goals and 12 assists helping them finish second in the Primeira Liga last season. He’s predominantly played from the left wing but can play across the attacking midfield positions so he’d give Klopp options in the final third.

Liverpool need more depth behind the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota and they could offset any fee for Otavio with the sale of players such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Takumi Minamino and Harry Wilson.