Liverpool are said to be willing to splash the cash in order to secure the services of Darwin Nunez this summer.
Liverpool are currently preparing for the departure of Sadio Mane, who looks set to join Bayern Munich following six hugely successful seasons on Merseyside.
While the Reds brought forward a move to sign Luis Diaz in January, the Colombian operating in similar areas to that of Mane, the Premier League runners up are said to be keen to further bolster their forward line.
Manchester United have strongly been linked with a move for Darwin Nunez, with unconfirmed reports in Portugal last week going as far as saying that the Red Devils had made a bid totalling £89 million.
However, they look to have significant competition from their North West rivals with Liverpool now keen to land the Uruguayan.
Nunez enjoyed a stellar season for Benfica, scoring 34 goals – including two against Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals – and providing 4 assists in 41 outings for the Portuguese side.
According to the Mail, Liverpool are ‘determined’ to land the 22-year-old and are ‘prepared to smash their transfer record’ to get him, saying that they would be willing to pay £85m (€99.6m) to secure his signature – £10m more than the £75m they paid to land Virgil van Dijk.
The report adds that Liverpool’s new sporting director, Julian Ward, has been in contact with Nunez’s representatives, and the player is ‘keen to move to Merseyside’.
Speaking following Liverpool’s Champions League win over Benfica back in April, Jurgen Klopp said of Nunez: “Really good, really good. I knew before, of course, but he played pretty much in front of me with his tough battles with Ibrahima Konate.
“He was physically strong, quick, was calm around his finish. Good, really good. I always say in these situations if he is healthy, it’s a big career ahead of him.”
