Liverpool transfer news: Reds set to battle Tottenham for River Plate's Lucas Alario

The 23-year-old was recently called up to Argentina’s senior international side and his talent has caught the eye of numerous top European clubs

Lucas Alario has emerged as one of Argentina's rising talents (Getty)

Liverpool and Tottenham are set to battle it out for the highly rated River Plate striker Lucas Alario, according to reports.

The 23-year-old was recently called up to Argentina’s senior international side and his talent has caught the eye of numerous top European clubs, including both Spurs and the Reds.

Alario has a £15.2m release clause which is comfortably within the two club’s price-range.

The Sun has claimed that Jurgen Klopp is a keen admirer of the striker’s varied skillset and it’s understood that the club have already had an £8.5m bid rejected by River Plate.

But Tottenham and Liverpool face stiff competition for the Argentine with both Inter Milan and Torino also interested in Alario.

The player himself has previously stated his desire to move to Europe at some point in his career.

“Like every player, I dream to play in Europe at some point in my career”, he said.

“For that, first I have to make things right at River, to keep growing and learning.”

Alario began his career at Colon before he moved to River Plate in June 2015 on a four-year contract.

He’s made a total of 17 appearances for the side, scoring an impressive 19 goals.

On 16 December, in the semi-finals of the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup in Osaka, Alario scored the only goal of the game to beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

Four days later he played the entirety of the final in a 3-0 loss to FC Barcelona.