Liverpool are involved in a heated race with Italian champions Juventus to sign West Bromwich Albion starlet Rekeem Harper, according to the Daily Mirror.
The newspaper claims that the Reds are one of the parties interested in the 19-year-old, who is out of contract this summer having failed to agree to a Hawthorns extension.
However, the Serie A side are currently thought to be in the driving seat for the young midfielder, while Tottenham Hotspur are also in the hunt.
New Baggies boss Slaven Bilic is scheduled to hold talks with Harper in the near future to try and persuade him to stay in the Black Country.
OPINION
The big question here is how have West Brom allowed themselves to get in a situation where their best young player is on the cusp of leaving the club for free because they’ve failed to get his contract sorted before now? He’s someone who really came on over the second half of the season and is clearly a fine young talent at just 19, but he’s now on the verge of leaving the Hawthorns for absolutely nothing. From Liverpool’s point of view, Juventus will present extremely stiff competition. We’ve seen the lure of playing abroad increase exponentially for young English players in recent years, and Juve are obviously a staple of top class European football. It’s not often you get the chance to join them, especially as a teenager. However, the lure of Anfield and the European champions will be equally great for Harper. But the question for the Reds is, do they really need to sign the Baggies starlet? Yes, he’s a quality player, but is he ever going to be a first team star for Liverpool? There are doubts about that, certainly.
