A deal has been agreed "in principle" between Roma and Liverpool for Mohamed Salah, reports Sky Sports, with the Reds ready to hand over £35m in return for the 25-year-old Egyptian ace.
Liverpool have been involved in arduous negotiations with Roma despite having agreed personal terms with Salah, and their initial bid of £28m was rejected earlier the month. But Salah never stopped believing a deal would be worked out and Sky Sports says that he and Jurgen Klopp kept in contact as the Liverpool gaffer discussed the move with Roma.
A second bid of £35m has now been accepted by the Serie A side and according to The Guardian the Reds "expect to sign Mohamed Salah before the end of the week".
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The winger will have a medical on Merseyside today and, as the paper says, the transfer caps a lengthy courtship of Salah by Liverpool. They tried to sign him in 2014 when he was with Swiss club Basel but lost out to Chelsea. Life didn't work out well at Stamford Bridge and Salah left for Fiorentina on loan in 2015 before moving to Roma. Now he's back in England and the Liverpool Echo says he will wear the number nine shirt over the course of his five year contract with the Reds.
In other news, website Goal.com says that Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham are all "showing an interest" in Luan, the 24-year-old Brazilian who is regarded as one of the most promising talents in South America.
Currently with Gremio, Luan was a member of Brazil's gold-medal winning side at last year's Olympics and Goal.com says the attacking midfielder will be sold by his club this summer to whichever club tables the biggest bid.
Liverpool transfer news: £35.5m Salah deal inches closer
16 June
The agent of Mohamed Salah is in London and according to the Daily Mirror he's here to help his client "finalise a move to Liverpool in the next few days".
It's believed that the Reds have already agreed personal terms with the Roma winger but the two clubs have yet to find common ground on a transfer fee, and the Merseyside club may be forced to break their transfer record and pay more than the £34m they forked out for Sadio Mane last season.
Salah's agent Ramy Abbas has now arrived in the country and he "fuelled speculation that the move could be close to completion" by posting a picture of himself driving through the streets of the capital.
Although there was no sign of Jurgen Klopp in the stunning photograph, the Mirror claims that the Liverpool boss "sees Salah as the ideal player" and is itching to bring the Egypt international to Anfield. For that to happen Liverpool will have to increase their initial bid of £26m to one in the region of £35.5m, which is what Roma believe Salah is worth.
Meanwhile the Mirror also says that Liverpool face a fight with Tottenham for the hand of Lazio forward Keita Balde. The 22-year, who scored 18 goals and claimed six assists in 34 Serie A appearances last season, is on Klopp's radar but the Mirror says that Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has added Balde to his summer shopping list because he sees his pace as a valuable asset.
The bad news for the Kop is that while Balde is refusing to sign a new deal with Lazio, that's because he's "holding out for a move to Juventus", although it's by no means clear if the Italian champions are interested. If they aren't, then a move to England is a possibility with Liverpool and Tottenham set to slug it out over the summer.
