Liverpool Pursue Fiorentina Goalkeeper Neto After Michel Vorm Talks Break Down

Liverpool have turned their attention towards Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto, as talks with Swansea City over the transfer of Michel Vorm broke down.

According to the Mirror, Liverpool have been frustrated with Swansea over their stance over the transfer of Vorm and have now ended their interest in the stopper and switched their interest to Fiorentina's Brazilian goalkeeper.

Brendan Rodgers is in the market for a goalkeeper to challenge current number one Simon Mignolet for a place in the starting XI. With only Brad Jones as backup last season, the Belgian had no real challenge for the number one jersey. This saw his form decline in the latter half of the season.

Neto has played for the Brazil U23 team and also won a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics. The 25-year-old goalkeeper is on the final year of his contract with the Serie A club and could be available for a reasonable price.

However, they do have out-of-favour Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who returned to the club after spending last season on-loan at Napoli, and will travel with Liverpool for their pre-season tour in the USA. He was widely tipped to make his move to the Italian club permanent, but the clubs failed to agree a fee for the player.

Even though the Spaniard has two years remaining on his contract, it is believed that he will leave this summer, with the goalkeeper already having written a farewell letter to the fans.

Meanwhile, Liverpool, who have begun their pre-season matches, won their second game with a 2-1 win over Preston North End. This game saw the Reds' first summer signing Rickie Lambert make his debut for his boyhood club.

Rodgers was very pleased with the efforts of the former Southampton striker and feels that he can make a major impact for Liverpool in the upcoming season.

"Rickie will just get better and better as he becomes more familiar with the group and becomes accustomed to the playing style," Rodgers told Liverpool's official site.

"I thought he was excellent and worked hard. I think he'll get goals for us and I'm delighted he's here. He's a wonderful character, he's 32 years of age but is still fit and strong, and he'll make a great contribution for us this year."