Liverpool and Tottenham are locked in a £20million battle with at least three other clubs for flying Brazil winger Bernard.
Sportsmail can reveal that a scramble for Bernard's signature is about to be sparked after it emerged he is ready to quit Atletico Mineiro after next Wednesday's Copa Libertadores final second leg.
Liverpool and Tottenham have both made enquiries and are now primed to lock horns with Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund for a 20-year old who broke into the Brazil senior side last season.
The pacey wide player, who primarily operates on the left, will not come cheap, after Porto had a £15.5million bid rejected by Mineiro president Alexandre Kalil, who set the asking price at just over £20million but is expected to accept around £18million.
Like Tottenham, Liverpool are concerned their absence from next season's Champions' League may put them at a disadvantage, but that did not deter manager Brendan Rodgers from urging club bosses to pitch for his services.
Bernard's four-goal tally in the Copa Libertadores puts him just two behind the tournament's top scorers and underlines why his combination of pace and finishing has made him a prime target for some of Europe's top clubs.
Hinting that he is ready to call time on his Mineiro career after Wednesday's return meeting with Paraguay's Olimpia, he said: "Regardless of whether it is my last game, it will be one of the most important titles of my career. Libertadores is very important for the club and for the players.
"I will do my best to make the fans happy, because moments like this may not happen again."
Either way, the five-foot five-and-a-half-inch attacker is set to bow out afterwards and head for Europe, with Liverpool and Tottenham hoping he chooses the Barclays Premier League ahead of a Champions' League campaign with one of their continental rivals.
Source: Daily Mail
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