Liverpool iverpool have jumped to the head of the queue in the race to sign Georginio Wijnaldum and are confident they can strike a deal with Newcastle United this week for the coveted midfielder.

Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool coach, is also closing in on a centre-half having agreed an initial £3.5 million deal for the Estonian Ragnar Klavan from Augsburg.

After being frustrated in his attempt to lure Polish international midfielder Piotr Zielinski from Udinese, Klopp’s attentions have now switched to Wijnaldum.

The Dutch international is attracting the attention of several Premier League teams and it looks likely he will leave the North East rather than join Newcastle’s promotion push.

The 25-year-old moved to Newcastle only last summer for £14.5 million. Newcastle have set a fee of £27 million, but Liverpool are confident they can settle on a deal nearer to £20 million and there is some optimism on Merseyside that talks could advance significantly over the next few days.

Klopp’s side head to the United States on Thursday. Although he has already recruited four players, the German coach has made clear his desire to add more and he has the financial resources to do so.

Defender Klavan needs only to complete the formalities of his move from Bundesliga side Augsburg before heading to Merseyside this week.

The 30-year-old featured in both Europa League fixtures against Liverpool last season, a tie Klopp’s side won 1-0 on aggregate. Klavan will be signed primarily as a back-up option – a direct replacement for the departed Kolo Touré.

Klopp is short of defenders heading into the new season, with Martin Skrtel sold to Fenerbahçe and both Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez suffering Achilles injuries. Joel Matip has been playing with a minor ankle injury in pre-season.

It is possible Klopp may even add another centre-back to act as an understudy, although that is more likely to be a youngster bought to develop alongside Gomez.

Klopp knows Klavan well from German football. The defender moved to Germany in 2012 and played well over 100 games for Augsburg. He previously played for AZ Alkmaar, where new Everton coach Ronald Koeman was among his former managers.

For the past three seasons, Klavan has been named Estonia’s player of the year, winning more than 100 international caps.

Liverpool have had problems agreeing a fee with Leicester City for Ben Chillwell. Left-back is another priority position.

Source: Telegraph

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