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Liverpool FC are no closer to securing a deal to sign Alex Teixeira with a big gulf between what they are willing to pay for the Brazilian and Shakhtar Donetsk’s valuation.

The Reds are keen to bring the 26-year-old to Anfield, and last week tabled an initial offer of £24.5m with CEO Ian Ayre flying to Florida – where Shakhtar are based at a winter training camp - to personally hold talks.

Shakhtar, though, value their top scorer closer to £38m, and as yet there has been no sign of a compromise fee being reached, despite negotiations.

Liverpool believe Teixeira would welcome the chance to move to Merseyside and fulfil a long-held desire of playing in the Premier League. The versatile attacker has scored 26 goals for Shakhtar this season, but has made it clear that he is ready to move on, whether in this window or in the summer.

Liverpool anticipated that negotiations with Shakhtar would prove difficult. The Ukrainian club are in no rush to sell their most prized asset, and hope that interest from elsewhere may spark a bidding war.

From Liverpool’s perspective, the desire to get a deal done remains, but with just over a week left until the transfer window closes, there would need to be a significant shift in the two clubs’ respective valuations for that to happen.