'I'm told': Liverpool and Man Utd could swoop to sign £50m ace in Jan - Reds made a late approach before deadline

Metro sports reporter Aden-Jay Wood claims that Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are long-standing fans of Yves Bissouma's

"Bissouma, who has 2yrs left on his current deal, is happy on the south coast, but one that could be revisited in January."

Anfield Central reported earlier this summer that Liverpool were put off signing Bissouma due to Brighton's £50million asking price but there are no guarantees he would be cheaper in January.

Liverpool made a late enquiry over how much it would have cost to sign him before the transfer deadline.

He might only have two years remaining on his current Brighton contract but the Seagulls are not obligated to sell midway through the season and will be hard-pressed to replace him.

Manchester United need to sign a new midfielder as well after failing to sign one this summer and there could be a race on to see who signs Bissouma and the prospect of playing with Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford could play in their favour.

While Liverpool have done well to tie down key players with contract renewals, failing to improve the squad with new signings aside from recruiting Ibrahima Konate leaves them vulnerable.

Konate is a replacement for Dejan Lovren and should have been signed last year and it looks as though Liverpool have made the same mistake again.

If injuries pile up in the middle of the park, questions will need to be asked about why a new central midfielder wasn't signed to replace Georginio Wijnaldum especially when his contract was allowed to run out when Jordan Henderson has been offered a new contract.

Understandably, he is the skipper and is more important to the Reds but Wijnaldum was the fittest midfielder at the club and in comparison, Hendo has quite a poor injury record.

Signing Bissouma in January would be great but it really should have happened this summer and unless it happens at a major discount, it makes little sense to have waited four months.