The threat of Financial Fair Play sanctions hanging over Chelsea could see the West London club having to shed a trio of academy graduates off their books with Liverpool lining up to sign them.
The Mirror reports that a "fire sale" may be required in the summer at Stamford Bridge for them to comply with FFP regulations after their seemingly endless spending spree under their new owner Todd Boehly.
While Chelsea believe that they have everything in check when it comes to their finances, if they fail to qualify for Europe next season then their situation could worsen significantly with UEFA reportedly keeping a close eye on proceedings.
Mason Mount is a player that has been widely reported to be a player of significant interest to Jurgen Klopp and the fact that his contract is running down works in the Reds favour.
The other two Blues players that have reportedly caught the eye of Liverpool are Conor Gallagher and Levi Colwill who is a central defender currently on loan at Brighton.
Signing the trio will also boost the home-grown qualified contingent at Liverpool which is set to take a hit in the summer with the likely departure of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Nat Phillips, Caoimhin Kelleher and James Milner.
As with any coveted player that comes onto the market there will be competition with Man United said to be closely looking at signing Mount while Brighton and Man City have interest in Colwill and Newcastle are closely monitoring Gallagher.
This news comes on the back this week where Liverpool officially ended any hopes of Jude Bellingham in the summer.
In a dismal season where fans have been looking to cling onto any kind of hope that the Borussia Dortmund and England star would make his way to the club in the summer but that was unceremoniously dashed.
Speaking ahead of their Monday night clash with Leeds, the manager produced a impassioned defence of their recruitment strategy which has come under the spotlight in recent times and said that being fixated on one player could see them miss out on other targets.
“What you want to know is as I sit here, am I angry that we can’t do this or that. No I am not. I am not, I don’t agree all the time with everything we do…but I am employed here.
“I am not here to be angry about things that will work out or not. If I am angry we don’t all of a sudden have more money, or the resources to do everything. So it’s rubbish (to get angry), it’s not ok - I’m too much of a professional.
(Referring to the Bellingham situation ) “ We have to make sure, we have to make decisions for the team, for the club and we cannot dream, we cannot be angry if we don’t get this or we don’t get that. If there’s no chance for it, why should we do that?”
“The budget is important and then timing is important, knowing when things can happen is important. Guarantees are important, if we go for it, whether will we get it is important. If you put too much focus on something you only might get, all the rest of the market could be gone.
"(Talking about possible targets) is a heated thing, but now we see, there are 12 midfielders we could sign. There are a lot of good players out there, honestly, yeah a lot of good players - and we are interested in all good players, and some of them will end up here.”
Across the football landscape, managers have been known to walk away from clubs when unable to land their prime targets, but do not expect Klopp to do anything of the sort saying “This is my club.”
And he insists he can get Liverpool back on track in the seasons ahead.
"For us playing football to be successful, yes it must be possible, of course it is possible to rebuild in three years. Of course it is better to play much better football than we did this year, it must be possible.”
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