Liverpool told Mohamed Salah not worth £40m, Steven Gerrard hoping for 'two or three' additions

Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol has questioned Jurgen Klopp's side's pursuit of Roma winger Mohamed Salah and does not think the Egypt international will oust Philippe Coutinho or Sadio Mane and receive regular game-time at Anfield.

Salah, 25, has told the Giallorossi of his wish to leave Rome and move to Merseyside this summer, but the Reds have not yet agreed a fee for the former Chelsea winger. It is understood that the two clubs are still £10m apart, with Roma valuing their star attacker at £40m.

The touted fee does not sit well with Nicol, who plied his trade at Anfield for 13 years. The former Scotland international does not think Salah will be a regular starter due the presence of Coutinho and Mane and believes £40m is an extortionate amount to pay for a perceived squad player.

"It is a lot of money," Nicol told ESPN, relayed by Goal. "It's a lot of money for Liverpool to buy a player, who, if everybody is fit, I don't think starts.

"You play [Philippe] Coutinho on the left, you play [Sadio] Mane on the right. I don't think you play Salah through the middle, that means he doesn't start. As far as the squad, obviously Liverpool are in the Champions League yes, but for £40m? I don't think so."

Despite Nicol's apparent disdain, Salah is likely to be Liverpool's first signing of the summer after their proposed move for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk hit the rocks in an extraordinary and embarrassing fashion.

Steven Gerrard, Liverpool's new Under-18s manager, is keen to see the club's hierarchy get busy in the transfer market and is believes success will be 'just around the corner' if they manage to bring in two or three fresh faces.

"Liverpool know where they need to improve and it's the consistency against the teams that are maybe in the bottom half of the table, the teams that sit narrow and compact and are difficult to break down," Gerrard told BT Sport, relayed by Liverpool's official website.

"Hopefully we can get the two or three pieces of the jigsaw that are missing. I'm really confident Liverpool can keep moving forward and success can be just round the corner."