Liverpool managerJurgen Klopp faces competition from former club Borussia Dortmund in his quest to secure the capture of Borussia Monchengladbach's promising midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud.
Klopp is a known admirer of Germany Under 21 star Dahoud, but according to theLiverpool Echo, his Signal Iduna Parksuccessor Thomas Tuchel is also keen on the midfielder.
In another quirk on the merry-go-round of football, it seems like Nuri Sahin, who played for the Reds under Brendan Rodgers, having been a part of Klopp's Bundesliga-winning Dortmund side in the 2010-11 season, could hold the key to Dahoud's future.
Tuchel is reportedly lining up a €15m bid for the 20-year-old, who was born in Syria, with out-of-favour Sahin, who has not made a single appearance this season,included as a make-weight and ready-made replacement for Dahoud.
Given Liverpool's spending power and the money sloshing around in the Premier League, matching Dortmund's bid is unlikely to be an issue for Klopp, but he may be denied his man by Dortmund's offer of a player who can fill Dahoud's position.
Monchengladbach boss André Schubert is clearly keen to protect his young midfield star, having afforded him just four league appearances this season, although Dahoud has also impressed in challenging Champions League assignments against Barcelona and Manchester City.
Since making his Monchengladbachdebut in 2014, Dahoud has made 38 appearances, netting five goals, which all came last season as a key part of the team who finished fourth in the Bundesliga.
Gladbach would surely hate to sell one of their brightest stars to their biggest rivals, a feeling Dortmund are all too familiar with, having had multiple players poached by Bayern Munich in recent seasons.
However, the lure of a side who finished 23 points ahead of Gladbach last season, as well as the chance to play alongside Dortmund's superstars, such as Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might prove too much for Dahoud to turn down.