Liverpool will have to pay £70m to sign Yankuba Minteh from Brighton after seeing two bids rebuffed.
Brighton will hold firm to their valuation of the Gambian winger, The Independent understands.
Andoni Iraola is keen on the 22-year-old, who missed the Seagulls’ 4-0 win over Aston Villa through injury.
Liverpool saw bids of £50m and £60m rejected by Brighton, but could return with a third improved offer before next Tuesday’s transfer deadline.
Brighton are thought to consider Carlos Baleba’s £70m price in his impending move to Manchester United as instructive.
Liverpool have considered Bradley Barcola this summer, but so far the club remains wide apart with Paris Saint-Germain’s valuation of the France winger, with a £145m fee floated.
The Reds salvaged a point in dramatic fashion on Sunday at Newcastle, with Dominic Szoboszlai’s penalty in stoppage time securing a 2-2 draw.
But Iraola will be keen to clinch a forward to upgrade his attack and offer genuine width, with Cody Gakpo starting from the left and Rio Ngumoha playing from the right with Florian Wirtz considered mainly a No 10 in the Spanish manager’s system.
After recruiting centre-backs Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo, plus winger Victor Munoz, Iraola is willing to be patient ahead of the deadline.
“Some deals you have to wait until the end,” Iraola told Sky Sports. “But the end is the important picture, the one we will have on September 1, because it is true that we are still quite thin.”
The former Bournemouth manager also said earlier in the week: “As a manager, this is an easy one for me. I wanted the players for the first day, July 13, everyone here, all the positions doubled, top-level players.
“But you understand how the competition works, that [the] market is open and you start the competition. We have to adapt as coaches to this situation.
“I hate these two weeks or these 10 days that we have because there is a lot of uncertainty – but not in Liverpool, everywhere because once the market is open. But we have to adapt.”
The Independent