Anfield side chase Bernabeu bit-part player.
Liverpool are moving closer to the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi according to Fichajes (via the Daily Telegraph).
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The 25-year-old Spanish international has struggled to make an impact since moving to the Bernabeu in the summer of 2013 and Brendan Rodgers has set his sights on landing the former Real Sociedad man.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the Anfield side hope to complete a £15m deal for the Real Madrid man, who offers a strong central-midfield option, with Rodgers having thus far brought in a number of free-agent captures this summer.
Liverpool have signed out-of-contract players James Milner, Danny Ings and Adam Bogdan and forked out £3.5m to bring in Charlton Athletic youngster Joe Gomez (via BBC Sport), Rodgers clearly not being to splash the cash in the same manner as last summer.
Rodgers saw Luis Suarez join Barcelona and then proceeded to bring in a number of big-money signings, with many of those signed failing to impress in their debut campaigns with the Merseyside outfit.
Illarramendi started 15 La Liga fixtures in his first season with Real Madrid but saw his chances limited in 2014/15 due to the arrival of Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich.
Boss Carlo Ancelotti handed the talented midfielder just 10 La Liga starts last term and Illara may well wonder what the future holds under new manager Rafael Benitez.
The Daily Telegraph report that Illarramendi is ‘likely’ to join Liverpool, and the Real Madrid star would certainly represent an improvement in quality on the likes of Joe Allen and Lucas Leiva, neither of whom impressed greatly last season.