Liverpool face an anxious wait to discover whether Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez will sanction the sale of midfielder Asier Illarramendi.
The Reds have, according to Madrid-based daily Marca, slapped in a €22m bid for Illarramendi, an improvement on a previous offer of €15m which was flatly rejected by Real Madrid.
Real Madrid's board are happy to sell Illarramendi to Liverpool for €22m, but will not agree to his departure unless Benitez gives the green light to the deal.
The decision is now with Benitez and if the former Liverpool manager is ready to do the Reds a favour, Illarramendi could end up playing his football at Anfield next season.
Illarramendi has been pushed down the pecking order at the Bernabeu since he landed in the summer of 2013 for around €35m.
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It remains to be seen whether the midfielder is in Benitez's plans for the upcoming campaign however and the Spanish coach may wish to run the rule over him personally on the club's pre-season tour of China and Australia.
Illarramendi, 25, is a product of Real Sociedad's youth system. He has yet to win a senior cap for Spain, though he has featured for the country at various youth levels.
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