Liverpool submit formal offer to beat Chelsea to Shakhtar Donetsk forward Alex Teixeira signing

Liverpool are hopeful of completing a deal to bring Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Alex Teixeira to Anfield before the end of the ongoing January transfer window after opening talks with the Ukrainian club earlier in the week. Apart from the Reds, Chelsea are also interested in the forward, but are yet to make an official approach.

According to the Guardian, the Merseyside club have offered €32m (£24.6m, $34.7m) and the club's chief executive Ian Ayre has flown to Florida, where Shakhtar are training at the moment, to clinch the deal. The Ukrainians, however, value their free scoring forward at €50m (£38m, $54.2m), which is much higher than Liverpool's first offer and the report claims that they are unlikely to drop to the Anfield outfit's valuation.

The Reds are keen to get the deal done ahead of Chelsea, who are willing to pay closer to £30m ($42.6m), but they are willing to fight the Blues all the way for Teixeira, who has welcomed a move to the Premier League, while acknowledging Chelsea's interest. The Stamford Bridge outfit were leading the chase for the forward, but the Ukrainian manager had indicated that the club are not interested in selling the player, who has scored 26 goals in as many appearances in all competitions thus far this campaign, in January.

Jurgen Klopp is keen to bring in reinforcements as he is facing an injury crisis in the attacking department with Christian Benteke his only fit forward at the moment. The German manager has used midfielder Roberto Firmino in the number nine position, with the Belgian having to settle for a place on the bench despite being Liverpool's top scorer with six goals. Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi, Danny Ings and Philippe Coutinho are all injured and are unlikely to return soon.

The January move for Teixeira, however, could be jeopardised as the forward suffered a hamstring injury on Tuesday (19 January), which forced him to miss their friendly 3-2 defeat to Brazilian side Corinthians the following day. But Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu has indicated that it is only a minor injury, and admitted that he left him out of the squad as a precaution.

"I decided not to risk it and rest him," the Shakhtar coach said, as quoted by the Guardian.