Galatasaray to Rival Liverpool for Anzhi Star in January - Report

Liverpool will reportedly face competition from Galatasaray, if they continue their pursuit of Anzhi Makhachkala striker Lacina Traore in January.

The Reds have been ardent admirers of the Ivory Coast international for some time now and were strongly linked with a move for the player, before he joined the Eagles last summer, from fellow Russian side Kuban Krasnodar in an €18m deal.

The Merseyside outfit was again linked to Traore this summer, when Anzhi made all their first-team players available for transfer, but a move failed to materialise. Liverpool are understood to be maintaining an interest in the the 6ft 8in forward but, according to the Express, Galatasary have now joined the race for him and will weigh up a move in January.

Dinamo Moscow manager Dan Petrescu recently stated Traore would join Juventus in January. However, the 23-year-old's representative Dmitry Selyuk has now revealed the player's future is yet to be decided and Anzhi will consider offers for him in January.

"Recent developments have not changed Traore's relationship with Anzhi. Moreover, he believes that the change of direction towards development will benefit the club. He loves to work with [new coach] Gadzhi Gadzhiyev, who has assured him that he counts on Lacina as the main striker," Selyuk pointed out.

"But I can't deny that in the case of a decent proposal that suits both us and Anzhi, Lacina could still change club. The interest in Traore in Russia and Europe is quite large. Therefore, if we get a good offer in the winter I think the leadership of Anzhi will let him go. But there are not many teams that could afford to pay the price for the player," the agent added.

Traore scored 12 goals from 24 league appearances for Anzhi last season. The striker also has four goals to his name from six senior international caps for Ivory Coast so far.