Liverpool Halted As Sporting Hold Firm on €10m Ilori - Report

Sporting Lisbon have told Liverpool they will only begin to listen at offers of at least €10m for defender Tiago Ilori.

Brendan Rodgers has identified the 20-year-old as a possible long term solution in his defence following the retirement of Jamie Carragher and with the future of Martin Skrtel in severe doubt.

Sky Sports confirmed earlier this week that the Reds tabled a bid worth €4.2m, an offer that was swiftly rejected by the Portuguese side. Abola report that Liverpool's initial offer is way off Sporting's valuation of the highly rated defender, suggesting the club will not consider selling Ilori until they receive a bid of €10m.

Sporting meanwhile are trying to negotiate a new contract for the London-born centre half. Record report that the club are quickly trying to tie the defender down to a new deal which will extend his stay with the club beyond 2015. More importantly, the new deal will ensure that a €30m release clause hangs over any proposed transfer.

Liverpool have also proposed the idea of allowing out of favour winger Oussama Assaidi to move to the Estadio Jose Alvalade on either a season long loan or permanent basis as part of the deal to bring Ilori to Anfield. But as of yet, no deal has been agreed.

The Reds have already recruited Kolo Toure after the centre half's contract at Manchester City expired this summer, but the club remain worryingly light at the back with more departures a possibility.

Having fallen out of favour with Rodgers during the second half of last season, Skrtel has been heavily linked with a reunion with Rafa Benitez at Napoli. The Slovakian international, who started just three Premier League games in 2013, is set to sit down with his agent and the club next week for talks about his future.

"There has been no contact between the two clubs," Skrtel's agent Karol Csonto told the Independent when quizzed on the Napoli rumours.

"Martin has a contract with Liverpool and it is important to honour that. Obviously Napoli know Martin well, but there cannot be any contact between us and them if they do not first reach an agreement with Liverpool.

The future of Uruguayan international Sebastian Coates is also in doubt. The 22-year-old made just 12 appearances across all competitions last season, only five of which came in the Premier League.

At the other end of the pitch, the Anfield club are expected to confirm the arrival of Iago Aspas this week, after the Spaniard underwent a medical ahead of his £7.7m move from Celta Vigo.