Liverpool and Arsenal fighting to sign €50M no.8 - Report names players on 3-man midfield shortlist amid injury crisis

Liverpool and two other Premier League clubs all want to sign Ismail Benaccer from AC Milan with reports from Hafid Derradji of BeINSports reporting he has a €50M release clause.

The Reds have been urged to sign a new central midfielder all summer and that was before Jurgen Klopp was struck by two injury blows in quick succession.

Both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones have been ruled out of the start of the season.

The Ox has a "serious" hamstring injury, according to Jurgen Klopp himself, with reports from the Athletic stating that he will be out for 2-3 months.

Jones, however, will only be out for 2-4 weeks but will miss the start of the season and a few more Premier League games potentially depending on how he responds to treatment.

Premier League interest in Ismail Benaccer

Liverpool could look to reinforce their midfield ranks this summer with a move for AC Milan star Ismail Benaccer. Arsenal and Manchester City are also said to be keen on hiring him.

This comes from Hafid Derradji of BeINSports, who writes that "Klopp is still seeking to strengthen his midfield".

The German has reportedly given FSG the "green light" to bring in one of three Serie A midfielders.

The report names Benaccer, Adrian Rabiot and Hakan Çalhanoğlu.

Caliciomercatoweb claimed a few days ago that Klopp is looking to ‘fish in Italy’ for a replacement and Calhanoglu is certainly a target.

I personally doubt that Klopp wants Rabiot.

Would Calhanoglu or Benaccer fit in at Liverpool, Arsenal or Man City?

I think there could be a world where Calhanoglu stars for Liverpool as he is a technically brilliant player that provides that X factor that fans crave.

He is a danger to teams anywhere in the final third and can even score goals from absurd ranges.

Jurgen Klopp will know very well about this after his Borussia Dortmund team was on the end of a 41-metre thunderbolt from the blue in 2014.

Klopp offered a wry smile but you just know he was fuming as his side was soundly beaten 3-0.

He can play anywhere in midfield and would be an incredible option for Liverpool.

Ismael Benaccer is an entirely different type of player compared to his creative Serie A counterpart.

The AC Milan star is just brilliant at recovering the ball and really excels at breaking up play and almost reminds me of Georginio Wijnaldum in that sense.

That's the type of role I would imagine him playing in for Liverpool.

What I really like about him is that he is left-footed which could really change the way Liverpool can approach attacks as he can fire passes in and much different angles compared to the likes of Thiago.

The Algerian is really press resistant and offers a thrilling way to watch football as he steals the ball back and either dribbles out of danger or plays smart and sharp passes into his teammate's feet.