Papa on the way in as Skrtel departs?

Liverpool are closing in on a deal for Greek powerhouse Kyriakos Papdopoulos, according to reports in Greece.

The Reds have been chasing the 21 year old Schalke centre half all summer, but with the player still in recovery from a serious knee injury and the German club demanding a large fee negotiations were put on hold.

Now speculation is rife that the deal could be back on, with the player now fully recovered from his injury and having returned to training this week.

Reports in the player's homeland claim a £13m deal is almost agreed and Papadopoulos could have a medical next week. Should such a move happen, it would almost certainly spell the end of Martin Skrtel's Liverpool career, with the 28 year old Slovak being strongly linked with a move to Napoli where he would be re-united with Rafa Benitez, who brought him to Liverpool in 2008.

Papadopoulos is one of Europe's most highly rated young defenders. He began his career with Olympiacos, who ironically the Reds face at Anfield this weekend, and he became their youngest ever player when he made his debut aged just 15 years of age. He quickly established himself in their first team and represented Greece in the 2012 European Championships.