Former Liverpool star who Jurgen Klopp wanted to keep in talks to complete move to Champions League rivals

Bayer Leverkusen are targeting former Liverpool defender Joel Matip, it has been claimed.

Sky Germany have claimed that Matip, who left Liverpool in the summer, looks set to sign for Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bundesliga champions reportedly view the 32-year-old as a possible replacement for the departing Jonathan Tah.

The ex-Cameroon international enjoyed a successful eight year spell at Liverpool, winning six trophies during his time at Anfield including the Premier League and Champions League.

Matip was a favourite of Jurgen Klopp during his time at Anfield, but the Reds opted not to renew the centre-backs contract, leaving him a free agent this summer.

Matip is thus able to join a club of his choosing and Leverkusen have allegedly already made contact with the player, hoping to entice him to return to Germany. The Cameroonian previously starred for Schalke in the Bundesliga.

Despite still boasting depth at centre-back even if Tah were to leave, Leverkusen are reliant on a back three, so would benefit from a replacement.

Upon announcing his departure from Liverpool, then-manager Jurgen Klopp said: "In all the years that I have been involved in football, I am not sure I have come across too many players who are more loved than Joel Matip.

Bayer Leverkusen are targeting Matip, it has been claimed (Getty)

"I’m not even sure it would be possible to say anything bad about him.

“A wonderful professional, a wonderful footballer and a wonderful human being – we have been blessed to have him with us for as long as we have and now all we can do is wish him well as he heads off in a new direction.

“Joel’s qualities as a player are there for all to see and as a club we have benefited from them since the first moment that he joined. I don’t think he has had too many headlines over the years but he has only ever been a very famous figure within our group.

“I have said before that if there was one person who wouldn’t care if he was underrated it would be Joel, but the truth is we could not have rated him more highly. Not only has he set the standards for himself, he has set them for others and this is one of the main reasons why his time here has been so successful.”