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The England under-20 wing back has emerged as one of the hottest prospects outside the top flight this season.

Leeds rejected a £4.5m bid from Southampton for him last summer but boss Ronald Koeman remains interested along with Sunderland.

The Black Cats have spent the last eight months keeping tabs on Byram along with the Reds.

Brendan Rodgers has sent scouts to watch him in action more than six times, while the Reds boss also ran the rule over Byram himself last month.

Starsport understands the Premier League giants are now in pole position to lure Byram to Anfield in the summer.

The 20-year-old made his Leeds debut in 2012 and has gone on to make more than 100 league appearances for the Championship outfit.

In May 2013 he was called into the England under-20 squad for the FIFA under-20 World Cup in Turkey but was forced to withdraw due to a hip problem.

Byram has been likened to Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale when it comes to his style of play.

His running power from full back and ability to be creative as a wing back has alerted Rodgers, who is desperate to strengthen his defence in the close season.

He is convinced Byram can be moulded into one of the best wing backs in the top flight and would suit his side's attacking formation.

Suspended Leeds president Massimo Cellino values Byram in the £10m bracket.

But it is understood the controversial Italian is willing to reach a compromise with Reds bosses in order to strike a deal.

Meanwhile Rodgers has warned Dejan Loveren he faces a fight to win his place back.

The 25-year-old Croatia defender could get a chance to prove his worth against Blackburn in the Reds' FA Cup quarter-final replay tomorrow.

But Kop boss Rodgers had highlighted the attributes that made him name veteran Kolo Toure in the 4-1 hammering by Arsenal on Saturday with Martin Skrtel suspended and Lovren on the bench.

Rodgers said: "The thing with Kolo is he gives me everything every single day so I know what I was going to get with him.

"Dejan was someone who was obviously out over the international break, now he is fighting well and looking strong.

"He will be in contention for the Cup game."

Rodgers' side have lost back-to-back Premier League games against top-four rivals Manchester United and Arsenal to effectively kill off their hopes of Champions League qualification.

But the Irishman is not planning to rip up his formation again.

Rodgers switched to a 3-4-3 style earlier in the campaign when their season threatened to go down the pan.

It sparked a 13-game unbeaten run in the league, but he has no intention to overhaul it again.

He said: "It's finding what suits the players. We have obviously got a number of players out now and when we changed the system it suited them.

"We are always looking to find a way.

"Our possession just hasn't been good enough, that has been the key to it.

"I don't think it was anything to do with the system, whatever system we were playing, we just didn't pass the ball quick enough in recent games."