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Iago Aspas has confirmed he will not return to Liverpool FC this summer, with Sevilla close to completing a £5m deal for the striker.

Aspas moved to the La Liga side on loan last summer after a difficult first season at Anfield, with the Spaniard being reduced to a few cameos as substitute during Liverpool’s title run-in.

The 27-year-old made just 15 first-team appearances for the Reds, scoring one goal, before returning to La Liga.

Sevilla had an option to make the transfer permanent this summer, and Aspas says it is an “open secret” he will be joining on a full-time basis.

“I came here on a loan deal with an obligatory option to buy,” Aspas told ESPN. “I am a Sevilla player for next season. I will sit down and talk to the club in the coming days, or when the season ends.

“It is an open secret that everyone knew. The transfer [fee] is to be paid this summer. I am very happy at Sevilla, they received me with open arms, and I hope to keep paying them back for many years.”

Aspas cost Liverpool £7.7m from Celta Vigo in 2013 and started the first three league games of the 2013-14 season.

But he became a peripheral figure once Luis Suarez returned from his ban in the September of that season, and started just a further two games.

The striker has scored nine goals this season, including two hat tricks in the Copa del Rey – one of those coming in a four-minute spell at home to third-tier Sabadell.

Aspas, who revealed he hasn’t spoken to Reds boss Brendan Rodgers since leaving the club, admits he understands his lack of playing time on Merseyside.

“Since I left Liverpool I have not spoken with [Rodgers] again,” he added “But the time I was at Liverpool, he behaved very well towards me. I did not have the playing time that I wanted. Which is why I made the move here to Sevilla.

“At the moment [a return to Liverpool] is difficult, I am going to stay here for some years at Sevilla. But I do have unfinished business as I felt I could bring much more things to the team, if I had been given more playing time.

“It is true there was a lot of competition for places, with Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, and playing for the league title. It was one of the best years of Liverpool in recent times and it was difficult to get playing time, for sure.”

Aspas' Sevilla side are close to a second-successive Europa League final appearance, holding a 3-0 advantage over Fiorentina after the first leg in Spain.