Alex Teixeira to Liverpool: Club 'makes £24.6m bid' for Chelsea target

The Reds are on the look-out for attacking talent with injuries to Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings and Divock Origi stunting their season

Liverpool have made an audacious £24.6m offer to sign Shakhtar Donetsk forward Alex Teixeira, who has been linked with a move to Premier League rivals Chelsea.

The Ukrainian club, in Orlando for the Florida Cup, reportedly value the 26-year-old at over £30m but the Reds are confident they can negotiate the fee down.

According to reports in the Times and the Guardian, chief executive Ian Ayre has flown out to the United States of America to clinch a deal which would see Liverpool dramatically sidestep Chelsea in the transfer market.

Teixeira has scored 67 goals in 146 appearances for Shakhtar across a five-year spell. Belgium international Christian Benteke, meanwhile, is the Reds’ top goalscorer this season with six strikes to his name.

Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, has openly discussed his desire to bring in more firepower into a squad which has been ravaged by a succession of injuries in recent weeks.

Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings and Divock Origi have all been out for lengthy spells while Philippe Coutinho, who has scored five times this year, has also struggled to shake off knocks.

Shakhtar lost 3-2 to Corinthians on Wednesday night and coach Mircea Lucescu said Teixeira had been left out after picking up an injury on Tuesday.

Alex Teixeira celebrates a goal against Chelsea, a club which he has been linked with this winter (Getty Images)

Despite the loan capture of Steven Caulker and Marko Grujic signing, from Red Star Belgrade, this deal would represent Klopp’s first major foray into the market as Liverpool boss.

Teixeira would link up at Anfield with fellow Brazilians Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Leiva.

"If there is an offer that will satisfy both player and the club I will fully support his move," said Lucescu recently.

"At the moment, Alex is Shakhtar's player. We'll see in the summer, now there's no point talking about it. This year, he needs to play so that he grows even more, despite the fact that Alex's level is very high even today.

"I want to see my players perform in the best, top teams in Europe. This means that both my assistants and I have not been working in vain for so many years.

"We signed players, who were 17-19, and brought them to the level of the top clubs. I wonder how many coaches in Europe are working based on such a scheme?"