Liverpool are confident their attempts to strengthen the squad will accelerate further this week with deals edging closer to secure the Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and Shakhtar Donetsk's prolific midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The club's managing director, Ian Ayre, pulled out of a scheduled appearance at a conference on football economic opportunities in Rio de Janeiro over the weekend to remain in Europe, with discussions on-going with the players' respective clubs.
Mignolet, who is currently on holiday in the Caribbean, has two years to run on his contract at Sunderland and has indicated a reluctance to sign a new deal, with the Wearside club seeking around £10m for the Belgium international.
No fee has been agreed as yet for the player, with Liverpool having had an initial offer nearer £6.5m rejected, but there is optimism at Anfield that a compromise can still be struck.
The arrival of Mkhitaryan for what is expected to be a fee of £22m would represent something of a coup for Liverpool, with the Armenian having proved prolific for a Shakhtar side who impressed in the Champions League last term.
The Ukrainian club's chief executive, Sergey Palkin, had suggested that there had been no official contact with Liverpool over the player, who scored 25 league goals last season, but that approach is now understood to have occurred and Anfield officials are hopeful about concluding a deal.
Mkhitaryan, 24, has been voted Armenia's player of the year three times and has thrived as an attacking midfielder, prompting interest from clubs in the Bundesliga and France's nouveaux riches, Paris St-Germain and Monaco. He would potentially join the Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas at Anfield, with a £7.6m transfer agreed in principle with the Spanish club, with the veteran centre-half Kolo Touré having also been secured on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract at Manchester City.
Source: The Guardian
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