Liverpool set to battle Chelsea for £17 million-rated midfielder – Reports

Liverpool are reportedly set to provide competition to Chelsea in the race to rope in Schalke midfielder Assan Ouedraogo in the near future.

Earlier this month, TEAMtalk reported that Mauricio Pochettino's side are aiming to sign Ouedraogo following the teenager's rise to prominence this season. However, they are set to face tough competition from Manchester United and Bayern Munich in their ongoing pursuit.

Now, according to Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is personally monitoring the 17-year-old's development at Schalke. He could look to convince his club's top brass to trigger the player's £17 million exit clause in the upcoming window.

Meanwhile, AC Milan are also interested in snapping up the Liverpool and Chelsea target. Their interest in the German, who has also attracted attention from Brighton and Everton, is said to be the most concrete.

Ouedraogo, who joined Schalke's youth ranks from Union 09 Mulheim in 2014, has made nine appearances for his team so far. He has started six of them, scoring his first goal in a 5-3 loss at Hamburg last August.

Should Ouedraogo join Chelsea next year, he would likely be loaned out for better development. He would have the likes of Lavia, Ugochukwu, Cesare Casadei, and Andrey Santos to compete with in the future.

Meanwhile, the right-footed player might get an easier pathway to first-team action should he join the Reds. He would have Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, and Bobby Clark to brush his shoulders with in midfield.

Jurgen Klopp claims Chelsea have massive advantage over Liverpool this ongoing term

Earlier last month, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp claimed that the Blues have a big advantage in the race to seal UEFA Champions League qualification this season. He elaborated (h/t Mirror):

"Chelsea and Tottenham [Hotspur] have no European football. Two heavyweights not in Europe, they have the whole week to train when others travel. It's a massive advantage. Getting into the Champions League this year will be difficult because they will be well rested."

Discussing his side's promising start to the campaign, Klopp continued:

"Yeah. We had a good pre-season with a lot of players together, that is the main reason. That helps, definitely. Getting results in moments recently that may have gone the other way in previous years."

Liverpool, who are participating in the UEFA Europa League this term, are in fourth spot in the 2023-24 Premier League table. They are on 17 points from eight games and have a positive goal difference of +9.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are currently in 11th with 11 points from eight matches and have a goal difference of +4. Spurs are atop the standings with 20 points from the same number of league matches.