Liverpool Prepare Opening £8m Bid for Mohamed Salah - Report

Liverpool have been given the green light by the owners to sign Basel midfielder Mohamed Salah, according to the Mirror.

Brendan Rodgers is preparing an £8m bid for the midfielder and is likely to make the first offer later this week. Owner John Henry had come down to Anfield to watch Liverpool play for the first time, where they drew 2-2 against Aston Villa, leaving them eight points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.

Rodgers has urged the owners that they need fresh legs to compete and the Egypt international is top of his wishlist whose performance he has been tracking throughout the season.

Salah caught the eye with his performance against Chelsea in the group stages of the Champions League where his team beat the Blues home and away in a couple of exciting encounters.

Brendan Rodgers is looking to spruce up his attacking options as he prepares his side for a top four surge and Salah's acquisition will take some pressure off the likes of Luis Suarez and Phillippe Coutinho who have been involved in almost all games for the Reds thus far.

However, Liverpool may yet be stumped by the fee demanded by Basel, who rate Salah at a staggering £14m. The player is entering his final two years in contract and Rodgers is hoping that he will be allowed to leave and provide him thme opportunity to play for one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

The former Swansea manager is also reportedly in for a defender in the full-back position but has yet to identify a target for the same.

In an interview before the Aston Villa game, Rodgers insisted that they are no closer to any signing any players but are actively scouring the market.

"There are no real developments yet. You see across the markets, clubs are just looking and seeing where they can improve. It's similar to ourselves," Rodgers told LiverpoolFC.com

"We've been working over a number of months on possibilities that could strengthen the team. We just need to wait and see how that goes in the next couple of week," he added.