Liverpool’s bid to land Piotr Zielinski has been rejected by Udinese.
An offer of €14 million (£11.75M) was turned down by the Serie A side despite accepting a part-exchange deal from Napoli matching that figure for the Poland international midfielder.
ZIelinski, who spent the last two seasons on loan at Empoli, remains intent on securing a move to the Reds and has already decided against a move to Udinese’s domestic rivals.
But suggestions of potential foul play have surfaced which claim the Italians may be attempting to force Anfield officials to increase their offer.
It has also been speculated that owners the Pozzo family are keen to pursue the deal with Napoli that would see Juan Camilo Zuniga join them with a view to immediately loaning the player to Watford.
Earlier this week Liverpool agreed a settlement with the Hornets, also owned by the Pozzo family, for the transfer of young forward Jerome Sinclair.
Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, has been boosted in his attempts to land Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud as an alternative to Zielinski.