Liverpool have received a boost in their push to sign Lazio young forward Keita Diao following reports that Lazio have lowered their asking price for the former La Masia Academy youth product.
The Italian side is believed to have lowered their asking price of £24 million to £15 million for the Spanish player of Senegalese extraction.
The 19 year old spent seven years in Barcelona’s youth Academy between 2004-2011, and joined Lazio three years ago, and has gone on to make over 25 appearances for the Italian capital club since he swapped Spain for Italian Seria A side.
He once attracted interest from Manchester United and Real Madrid after a loan spell outside the La Masia Academy saw him score 42 goals in the Spanish lower divisions.
He has fallen down the pecking order since this season started, and as a result the speculations have started to pour in linking him away from the club.
He was previously in the fringes of the first team at Lazio, but has still managed to feature sparingly, yet this season, he has not been within the circles of the first team.
As a result, there are indications that Liverpool could move for him in the January transfer window as they seek to continue their policy of recruiting young forwards to the team following the departure of Luis Suarez in the summer.
However, Keita Balde Diao has a versatility that can see him play a number of different positions in the attacking third.
An attribute that is believed to be at the forefront why Liverpool are interested in signing him as they seek to inject more pace to their forward line.
The 5ft 11in Lazio forward has a physicality about him that has the potential of frightening the opposition, and he has some pace to burn.
Yet, looking at the speculation linking him to Anfield when considered against the back drop of the business the club did in the summer, it can clearly be seen that Brendan Rodgers is unlikely to sign another prospect.
He is the same age with Belgian teenager Divock Origi who was signed in the summer from Lille for £10 million, but was loaned back to the French side.
The Belgian is yet to make an appearance for Liverpool, which makes it a clear certainty that the club would not sign yet another player (Keita Diao) that is seemingly on the same developmental level to Divock Origi.
