31 January 2023 , 10:34
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Barcelona are reportedly favourites to land Liverpool target Sofyan Amrabat this deadline day - despite Jurgen Klopp holding private talks with the Moroccan's agent.
Fiorentina midfielder Amrabat attracted major attention during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with the 26-year-old putting in a string of top performances as Morocco punched above their weight in reaching the semi-finals.
Klopp is in dire need of midfield enforcement and spoke with representatives for Amrabat earlier in January over a potential move. Liverpool have always had competition for his signature, with Atletico Madrid also showing interest, but now it seems Barcelona have won the race for his signature.
According to reports, Xavi has been given the green light by Barcelona chiefs to sign Amrabat and has made a formal approach. Fiorentina are said to have rejected this bid, but the midfielder hasn't turned up to training, putting pressure on the Serie A outfit.
The midfielder recently said of the interest in him: "I'm proud to be linked with top clubs like Barcelona and Atletico. But I'm a Fiorentina player, I respect the club and I have a great relationship with the president. We also have a good coach at Fiorentina."
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Meanwhile, Klopp admitted Liverpool are very unlikely to make a move for anyone else this January window - after signing Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven - despite the Reds' dire form and obvious need for new recruits.
A frustrated Klopp following Liverpool's defeat by Brighton in the FA Cup, said: "Nothing will happen in this transfer window, not at all. It's all good with this squad."
Sofyan Amrabat caught the eye with his performances for Morocco at the World Cup (Getty Images)His comments followed those made by left-back Andy Robertson, who suggested Liverpool - who are struggling this season and ninth in the Premier League - are actually getting worse.
"We need to start winning games," said the Scot. "It's easy to say but harder to fix and it's proven that way. This season has been nowhere near good enough, at the turn of the year we wanted a new start.
"But it's not got off to that… it's probably been worse. In the league we've not been good enough, we lost in the League Cup to Man City by one goal and now we're out of both cups.
"It's really disappointing. You can't put your finger on one thing because it's more than that and it's about putting a performance together where all these things click.
"You can tell we aren't as confident in front of goal and you can tell that defensively we are too open. We need to get the confidence back, but it's easier said than done.
"The only way we pick up results is you have to score goals and you have to be able to keep clean sheets and we're not managing that. We're not managing to do that and we need to do it quickly.
"But we keep saying that and that doesn't help the fans. I feel sorry for them, we aren't putting a show on them at the moment."