Liverpool have made first move to sign £45m midfielder who Bayern Munich also want to buy

Liverpool could be set to battle Bayern Munich for the signing of Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

The Reds have been linked with a move for Phillips over recent weeks, as they try to find a solution to their midfield worries.

And according to 90min, that interest has already led to an enquiry being made with Man City.

They’re not the only ones hovering around, though. Fresh from signing Harry Kane, Thomas Tuchel is now said to be targeting another England international. Having reportedly been impressed with Phillips during his time in the Premier League, Tuchel supposedly wants to take him to Munich.

Ironically, this could actually end up being good news for Liverpool. That’s because 90min claim that any Bayern move for Phillips could be dependent on Reds target Ryan Gravenberch.

The German champions have so far been reluctant to sell Gravenberch this summer. However, it’s suggested that they could now put the 21-year-old up for sale in order to fund the signing of Phillips.

For his part, the former Leeds United man is currently said to be hoping to stay and fight for his place at City.

Bayern and Liverpool battle for Phillips
Plenty has been written and said about Liverpool’s transfer strategy this summer. The signing of Wataru Endo from Stuttgart surprised a few, to say the least.

But in the moves for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, there was still some semblance of the ‘old Liverpool’ way of doing business.

Should they follow up on interest in Phillips though, it would be a clear sign that things have changed very much indeed.

In recent years gone by, it would be unthinkable for Liverpool to go after a City reject. Because, although they spent £45m on him last summer, that’s exactly what Phillips is turning out to be.

Not good enough to get into Pep Guardiola’s team, the Reds wouldn’t have looked twice at him in the past.

But right now, that’s where we are. Scrambling around to try and ensure that we’re not leaving ourselves short ahead of a busy season.

There will be plenty out there hoping that Bayern accelerate their interest instead. Gravenberch has critics of his own, but bringing him in would be the more agreeable of these two potential deals. Let’s see what happens over the coming days.