Barcelona have reportedly been forced to pull out of the race for in-demand Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Georgiy Sudakov.
The 21-year-old has been hailed as one of the brightest prospects to emerge from the Shakhtar academy and has come up with 15 goals and 14 assists in 91 appearances for the Ukrainian giants.
A highly productive 2022-23 season saw Sudakov amass five goals and 11 assists from 39 matches in all tournaments, setting up goals against RB Leipzig and Celtic in the Champions League.
The Ukraine international has already matched his five-goal tally from last season in 24 games in 2023-24, although he has not been so prolific on the assist front, only setting up two strikes thus far.
Nevertheless, the 2002-born creator is still regarded as a jewel in the Shakhtar crown, and back in February, the Miners tied their much-coveted prospect down to a new long-term deal until 2028.
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However, Shakhtar are not expected to retain the services of the Ukraine international for the long-term, and their primary reason for extending his terms was to protect his value in the transfer market.
All of Liverpool, Man City, Manchester United and Barcelona have been credited with a serious interest in Sudakov, while Napoli and Juventus are also keeping tabs on his displays.
The 21-year-old's former Shakhtar teammate, Mykhaylo Mudryk, has supposedly urged Chelsea to enter the race too, but it is unclear if the Blues have any intention of bringing him to Stamford Bridge.
Premier League and Serie A sides appear to have been handed a significant boost, though, as according to Mundo Deportivo - via TEAMtalk - Barcelona have already conceded defeat in their efforts to sign the midfielder.
The report claims that Shakhtar will demand a reasonable €50m (£42.8m) for Sudakov this summer, but that fee will still prove too steep for Barcelona amid their prolonged economic concerns.
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As a result, Liverpool are supposedly now leading the race for the 21-year-old, who has been earmarked as a future star by Xabi Alonso, the top candidate to take over from Jurgen Klopp as head coach this summer.
However, when asked by Calciomercato if he would consider swapping Shakhtar for Serie A, Sudakov said that he would be open to a move to any of the big five European leagues this summer.
"Certainly. As I said, the Premier League is an incredible league, but first of all I want to play in one of the top five leagues and Italy is no exception in that sense," the midfielder said.
Before bringing in new players or a new manager, though, Liverpool want to finalise the appointment of a new sporting director and are thought to be on the brink of hiring ex-Bournemouth guru Richard Hughes to fill that vacancy.
The Reds have already welcomed their former sporting director Michael Edwards back to the club, as the 44-year-old prepares to begin work as Fenway Sports Group's new CEO of Football.
