After coming in with a bid of €100 million (£84 million, $113.7 million) at the end of May, Liverpool have steadily upped their stake to €134 million (£113 million, $152.8 million). The deal was said to be in the “home stretch” but the latest offer has now been rejected once again, The Times state.

Liverpool are closing in on a deal to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen but they have had mixed success with their imports from Germany.

The Reds' latest offer guarantees the Bundesliga outfit a fee of £100m, while the remaining £13m would be paid if certain add-ons were achieved during the attacker's time at Anfield. The 2024 Bundesliga winners, however, are said to be holding out for a fee closer to £126m for Wirtz, who joined from FC Koln in January 2020.