Serie A side AC Milan may look to hijack Liverpool’s bid for Udinese midfielder Piotr Zielsinki.
The Reds submitted a bid worth £11 million for the Poland international earlier in June, though Udinese are believed to be holding out for closer to £15 million.
Zielinski has already rejected an offer from Napoli, with Merseyside his preferred destination, but this may well change if Milan wade into negotiations.
According to Sky Italia, new Milan manager Vincenzo Montella has made Zielinski one of his targets for the summer, after taking over from Cristian Brocchi on Wednesday.
Milan find themselves in a similar position to Liverpool ahead of 2016/17, having finished seventh in Serie A, as well as losing in a major cup final in the Coppa Italia.
Montella’s side are also without European football next season, but Zielinski has previously intimated a desire to remain in Italy for a further campaign.
Whether this will be a deciding factor, given further indications that he would now favour a move to join Jurgen Klopp‘s Reds, remains to be seen.
Zielinski is currently on duty with Poland at the European Championships, with Adam Nawalka’s side set to take on Portugal in the first quarter-final of the tournament on Thursday night (8pm BST).
The 22-year-old has made just one appearance in France so far, playing 45 minutes against Ukraine in the final clash of Group C, helping to seal a 1-0 victory.
Klopp has clearly outlined Zielinski as a key target for the summer, with his energy, versatility and mobility suited to the German’s high-intensity attacking system.
Zielinski could become the Reds’ fifth signing of the summer if Poland are to crash out of Euro 2016 at this stage, joining Marko Grujic, Joel Matip, Loris Karius and Sadio Mane at Anfield.
Left-backs Ben Chilwell and Andrew Robertson—of Leicester City and Hull City respectively—and Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud remain Klopp’s other targets.
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