Although Liverpool are expected to sign a deal with Wolves for Portuguese midfielder Mateus Nunez, they may face competition for his signature.
The circumstances are unclear, but before joining Wolverhampton from Sporting in August, Nunez was ready to move to Anfield, but it failed.
Having arrived in the Midlands as a record contract for the club, the 24-year-old player very quickly received a hint about moving to another place.
His most likely destination remains Liverpool, who are said to have committed to returning for the Brazilian-born midfielder after their initial pursuit failed, and a £44 million deal has been discussed.
But, according to Mike McGrath of the Telegraph, Chelsea has now become a rival in the market, and Nunez is on the shortlist of five people.
It is claimed that Nunez is being considered along with Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice, Amadou Onana and Enzo Fernandez, although they are almost certainly also tracking Jude Bellingham.
Five of these players have also been linked to Liverpool, who will be wary of going to war for any particular goal.
This is certainly a concern when it comes to the rivalry with Chelsea for Nunes, as the London club is actively supported by new co-owner Todd Pain.
Chelsea have recently caused controversy due to their approach to free spending and excessively long contracts, which led to UEFA proposing a new five-year limit for deals so that clubs could not circumvent the FFP rules.
However, this does not seem to have changed their plans: Boehly is expected to finance even larger purchases in addition to the 423 million pounds paid for the signing of 15 players, including Wesley Fofana (75 million pounds), Mark Cucurella (60 million pounds), Mikhail Mudrik (88.5 million pounds) and Raheem Sterling (47.5 million pounds).
As with Bellingham, Liverpool may need to convince the likes of Nunez that they are the right project, beyond the financial incentives offered elsewhere.
“Obviously there are many different ways to do it, but it all depends on the situation you are in,” Jurgen Klopp explained plans to rebuild his team.
“Especially with what’s going on around. Chelsea with a new owner, obviously no one knows exactly how they do it, how they can spend so much money.
“Other teams, no one likes it when I talk about it…
“But the transition takes time if you don’t have infinite money, otherwise you can change overnight by inviting 10 players.”
