Liverpool midfielder Emre Can monitored by host of clubs as contract talks rumble on

Liverpool may be forced into selling midfielder Emre Can in the summer if he does not sign renewed terms at Anfield. The German international has been in negotiations over a new deal with the Reds for several months but is no closer to committing his future to Jurgen Klopp's side, with his current contract set to expire next summer.

News of the lack of progress in talks has alerted clubs in Germany and Italy. Juventus are believed to be monitoring Can while The Mirror claims Bundesliga clubs RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen – the club Can played for before joining Liverpool – are all interested in signing the 23-year-old.

Klopp is keen to keep his compatriot on Merseyside and sees him as an important part of Liverpool's team in the coming years, but he will not bow to the demands of the utility player's agent, who wants the Reds to more than double his client's current wages of £35,000-a-week. The former Borussia Dortmund manager believes Can could become one of the best midfielders in Europe but is not to prepared to offer him wages befitting that status just yet.

Liverpool are prepared to offer Can fresh, incentive-based terms but if the Frankfurt-born star refuses to budge they will be left with little choice but to sell him in the summer in order to avoid losing him for nothing next year.

If Can did leave, Liverpool would presumably intensify their efforts to sign Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, who has been compared to Chelsea's ever-impressive N'Golo Kante.

Can has made 21 Premier League appearances for Liverpool this season, scoring three times and providing two assists. The former Bayern Munich prodigy has not truly established himself this season and has had to battle with summer signing Georginio Wijnaldum for a spot in Klopp's starting line-up, but he still remains an important part of Klopp's squad, which is set to be rejuvenated at the end of the campaign.