July: Liverpool submit €70m bid for ace - August: Close to new contract with current club - Edwards must act fast

Liverpool's rumoured bid for Nicolo Barella has been put to bed by Get Italian Football News editor Kaustubh Pandey while speaking to the Blood Red Podcast but if if it was real, Michael Edwards must act with haste.

In mid-July, Liverpool allegedly made a bid to sign Barella from Inter Milan according to La Repubblica, via FC Inter News, worth in the region of €70million (£60m.)

At the time, the Serie A club's stance was that aside from Achraf Hakimi, they would not sell any of their other big names.

But Chelsea's recent attempts to sign Romelu Lukaku have proven once again that football clubs cannot turn certain bids down - Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona is evidence of this.

Every player has his price.

That said, according to Kaustubh Pandey, the bid cited by La Repubblica was fabricated.

He told the Echo's podcast: "[The reports], I think, have been planted by Barella's agent.

"Not just for Barella, but for Alessandro Bastoni as well, there was a period a few months ago where he was being linked with Liverpool and other clubs.

"But they have signed new contracts - maybe not announced yet, but everything has been agreed.

"It seems, with Barella, that his agent has been using the interest from Premier League clubs to make sure that Inter meet the requirements for a new contract.

"Barella has been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United, but that is a bit silly, because he is probably going to sign a new deal.

"Unless something unusual happens, people are expecting Barella to stay there in the long-term."

If the Reds did actually make a bid worth €70m (£60m), it's more than likely the Serie A outfit would consider it given their financial standing.

With around three and a half weeks remaining of the transfer window, it's going to get very interesting very soon.

Realistically, Liverpool can go into the season with their squad as is but they're taking a massive risk given how injury-prone a number of their players are and remembering what happened last season.

If the Reds still hold interest in the Italian as Anfield Central was told in late May, then they need to act swiftly.