Mamadou Sakho
Mamadou Sakho is a target for Liverpool and Napoli.

Liverpool are in negotiations with Paris Saint Germain over a fee to purchase defender Mamadou Sakho, with Napoli also stepping up their chase of the star after Rafa Benitez made him a top target in the lead up to deadline day.

Napoli have been busily spending the money bestowed upon them after the sale of Edinson Cavani to PSG and the Italian side are believed to be in the market for more reinforcements before close of play on Monday.

And as Liverpool stall on an agreement with Sakho, with Talksport claiming that they are struggling to agree a final fee for the France international, Napoli are now believed to be hoping to convince the player that a move to the Naples is better than Merseyside.

With Champion League football on offer it would certainly be tempting for Sakho to join former Liverpool manager Benitez in his fight to take the Scudetto off Juventus this season, and Sky Sport Italia are reporting that the side are very much in for the Frenchman.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said today that he would be pained to see Sakho leave the French club, telling L'Equipe: "Sakho is a child of the club just like Steven Gerrard is at Liverpool.

"It is hard to imagine him wearing another team's jersey. I'm a little surprised that he wants to leave.

"I had a discussion with him. My position is very clear and he knows it. We want to keep him and we will do everything to achieve that."

Liverpool have so far brought in five players this summer, with Aly Cissokho and Kolo Toure bolstering the side's defensive line-up as well as keeper Simon Mignolet. The club have made a positive start to this season but Brendan Rodgers has admitted they are still looking for quality players to add to the squad before Monday.

And with both Cissokho and Toure recently suffering injuries after Liverpool faced Notts County in the Capital One Cup, Rodgers might be more willing to negotiate a higher fee with PSG over their prized centre-back.