Liverpool to Compete with Juventus For South American Forward – Report

Brendan Rodgers is hoping his ties with Barcelona will allow Liverpool to become the favourites to sign Alexis Sanchez, should the Spanish side decide to sell the forward in the summer.

Despite an impressive start to his Barcelona career, Sanchez has struggled to replicate the stunning form that saw him become one of the biggest stars in Italy as he has scored just one league goal this season.

The 24-year-old scored 12 goals in his final season in Italy, with Udinese, and achieved the same return in his first campaign in Spain. However, it has been a different story this year and Sanchez has often found himself on the substitutes bench.

He has started just nine league games and there is a belief that Juventus may well attempt to lure the forward away by offering him the chance to link up with his international colleague Arturo Vidal.

Talksport has reported that Juventus manager Antonio Conte believes that Sanchez's friendship with Vidal could give him the edge when it comes to trying to secure the services of the forward.

The Italian club may not have it their own way though as Liverpool are also said to be interested in signing Sanchez.

Rodgers does have some ties to the Spanish club as he was previously invited out to Barcelona to watch the side train and learn more about how the club is run.

Liverpool did strengthen their attacking options in January, when they signed Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, but should Sanchez be made available, then he would be hard to ignore.

Barcelona have plenty of cover for Sanchez, with Lionel Messi, Christian Tello, David Villa and Pedro all outscoring the Chilean this season, but is remains unclear whether they would be prepared to sell the former Udinese star.

Much will depend on his form throughout the rest of the season as Barcelona look to secure another league title and turn around a two-goal deficit against AC Milan in order to try and claim the Champions League trophy.