Jurgen Klopp has held 'private talks' with Sofyan Amrabat as Liverpool look to hijack Man Utd transfer

Jurgen Klopp has reportedly already held talks with Sofyan Amrabat in a bid to convince the Fiorentina midfielder to move to Liverpool over Manchester United.

The 26-year-old has been the subject of interest from both Premier League clubs, with Klopp and Erik ten Hag eager to strengthen their respective midfields.

Speaking earlier this summer, Amrabat's agent, Mahmoud El Boustati, revealed that Amrabat was 'open' to leaving Fiorentina with multiple clubs monitoring his situation.

"Quite a few clubs are interested in Sofyan," El Boustati told Voetbal Primeur. "It is now a matter of making the right choice.

"He is still just a Fiorentina player. If something interesting comes up, Sofyan is open to the step, Fiorentina are too. There are two, three clubs that he is open to."

The Reds boss met with Amrabat's representative during the World Cup, according to French outlet Foot Mercato, at the same time Amrabat was shining for Morocco. Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag knows the player well from when they worked together at FC Utrecht.

Dutch publication AD have since confirmed that Klopp has held talks with Amrabat as the Merseysiders attempt to hijack United's move for the World Cup semi-finalist.

Liverpool are thought to have an advantage over their Premier League rivals in the race for his signature, with United needing to sell further players in order to free up their transfer budget.

On the other hand, Liverpool have seen both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho move to the Saudi Pro League after Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left as free agents.

Having missed out on signing Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea, Klopp is desperate for midfield reinforcements.

The German coach recently added Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo from VfB Stuttgart for a fee in the region of €19 million, but Liverpool are reportedly plotting two more midfield signings before the transfer deadline slams shut.