Lille president Gerard Lopez has revealed Liverpool have been in discussions with Nicolas Pepe over a possible move to Anfield this summer window.
The Ivory Coast international, who is currently on duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, grabbed the attention of big clubs in Europe last campaign after his outstanding performances for Lille, which saw him score 23 goals in 41 games in all competitions.
Among those interested are believed to be Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Arsenal , with Lille valuing the winger at around £70m.
But it is Liverpool whose interest appears to be the most concrete at the moment, and in an interview with RMC Sport Lopez conceded the Reds had already been in contact with their star player.
“I know there have been discussions with the player, not with us as a club,” he said.
“Liverpool have players in those positions and I read that maybe there were players who could leave, or not.
“I am not particularly focused on Liverpool. But it is true that there have been discussions with agents.”
He also revealed that Lille had received two offers from different clubs for the player before he left for the Africa Cup of Nations, and it seems certain he will leave before the end of the window.
Lopez added: “We had two offers before the Africa Cup of Nations. We’ll see after that, my position was to see if we could not do something before it, we had two proposals before it, I had two clubs.”
With the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane already at the club, Liverpool possess a wealth of attacking talent, but Jurgen Klopp still wants to strengthen his team as they look to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title again next campaign.
They have yet to make any new signings so far this summer window, but have been linked with a couple of players, among them are Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos and Ousmane Dembele.
