Liverpool are facing competition from two unnamed Premier League clubs for the signature of Ukraine forward Yevhen Konoplyanka, despite opening negotiations with his club on Wednesday.

Managing director Ian Ayre is leading talks with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to sign the 24-year-old after manager Brendan Rodgers revealed on Tuesday night that they are closing in on “a major signing”. However, several clubs including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain have all shown an interest in Konoplyanka in the last six months and sources close to the player admitted yesterday that Liverpool are not the only team in contention.

Last night, Spurs and City dismissed speculation linking them to the striker who scored against England in the World Cup qualifier at Wembley in September 2012, although reports in Ukraine suggested Tottenham could be in the frame. United officials were also tight-lipped over their potential interest but with rumours in Italy that Internazionale are keen on taking Nani on loan and Wilfried Zaha set to complete his short-term move to Cardiff, manager David Moyes could be in the market for more wide players. Moyes has also been linked with a move for Bayern Munich midfielder Toni Kroos.

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Dnipro are understood to be holding out for a fee close to £20million for Konoplyanka having turned down several bids this week, although an offer of around £15m is likely to be enough to persuade them to sell their prize asset. Konoplyanka’s father, Oleg, admitted yesterday that he expects his son to leave Ukraine, with sources also confirming that his future will be resolved before tomorrow night’s deadline. That would rule out the prospect of PSG making an offer, despite the French side tracking him for over a year.

Having already lost out to Chelsea for Mohamed Salah this week, Liverpool are desperate to add another attacking option to their squad and Konoplyanka would provide versatility given his ability to play on both flanks.

However, with time running out, Ayre will be keen to make sure they are not gazumped for a second time by a rival for a top-four finish.

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Shape Created with Sketch. The strangest transfer deadline day stories - in pictures Show all 10 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The strangest transfer deadline day stories - in pictures 1/10 Peter Odemwingie to QPR? One of the weirder stories of recent years. Odemwingie took it upon himself to drive to London from West Brom and spoke of his excitement about joining QPR. Unfortunately the Nigerian was to discover his club hadn't given him permission to speak to Harry Redknapp's side so Odemwingie suffered the indignity of being locked out of Loftus Road and sent back to the Hawthorns with his tail firmly between his legs. Getty Images 2/10 Robinho's slip of the tongue Newly rich Man City might have been pipped to the signing of Dimitar Berbatov in 2008, but they had made a big statement by stealing Robinho from under Chelsea's noses. So I expect they were delighted when Robinho announced: "Chelsea made a great proposal on the last day and I accepted". When asked if he meant Manchester City, Robinho replied: "Yeah. Manchester. Sorry!" PA 3/10 Ryan Babel's mystery flight Ryan Babel was spotted getting in a helicopter bound for London on deadline day in 2010 but where was he headed? No move ever materialised and the mystery continues to this day. Just where was the Babelcopter going? REX IMAGES 4/10 How much? When Chelsea splashed £50m on Fernando Torres, in 2011, some felt they'd overpaid. Fortunately Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool were on hand to put things into perspective by immediately spending £35m of that money on Andy Carroll - a man with just a good half season of Premier League football behind him. Dalglish lost his job and Carroll is now at West Ham. AFP/Getty 5/10 Julian Faubert to Real Madrid Arguably one of the strangest transfers of all time, in 2009 Real Madrid took Julian Faubert on loan from West Ham. To the surprise of no one it wasn't a success, Faubert made just two appearances and once fell asleep while on the bench during a game. GETTY IMAGES 6/10 Arshavin arrival When that window slams shut (it always slams) trading ceases - unless you're Arsenal that is. The £15m arrival of Andrei Arshavin in 2009 had Gooners waiting for confirmation a full 24 hours after Big Ben had struck midnight. There was some excuse about adverse weather conditions, but that didn't stop Arsenal's Premier League rivals from raising an eyebrow or two. GETTY IMAGES 7/10 David Beckham joins PSG While any criticism of Sir David of course borders on sacrilege, and Beckham's decision to give all his wages from the club to a children's charity is to be applauded, the fact that he chose to make the move on deadline day when as a free agent he could move whenever he liked, did seem quite a lot like attention-seeking. Getty Images 8/10 Benjani's airport nap Sounding more like the badly thought through excuse of a schoolboy than a reason that almost scuppered a transfer, Benjani wrote his way into deadline day folklore in 2008. Flying from Portsmouth to Manchester to finalise a move to City, the striker rather unfortunately fell asleep in the airport, missing two planes and nearly ruining his chances of a move. In the end Man City fans must have wished he had. GETTY IMAGES 9/10 Samba time Nothing sums up the mad decisions made by desperate clubs during the January window than the signing of Chris Samba by QPR. The relegation threatened club forked out an incredible £12.5m to bring in the former Blackburn centre-back to save their season - and also agreed to pay him £100,000 a week. Turned out he wasn't much help, at one stage even having to apologise for being at fault for two goals in the west-London derby defeat to Fulham. QPR were relegated and Samba returned to Anzhi Makhachkala. GETTY IMAGES 10/10 Alan Pardew's lucky day Bizarrely and seemingly with a whiff of something shady, 2006 saw Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano arrive at West Ham looking more than a little confused. In the end the third party deal was ruled illegal and West Ham had to pay a £5.5m fine and £20m compensation to Sheffield United who were relegated when Tevez's goals kept West Ham in the league later that season. GETTY IMAGES 1/10 Peter Odemwingie to QPR? One of the weirder stories of recent years. Odemwingie took it upon himself to drive to London from West Brom and spoke of his excitement about joining QPR. Unfortunately the Nigerian was to discover his club hadn't given him permission to speak to Harry Redknapp's side so Odemwingie suffered the indignity of being locked out of Loftus Road and sent back to the Hawthorns with his tail firmly between his legs. Getty Images 2/10 Robinho's slip of the tongue Newly rich Man City might have been pipped to the signing of Dimitar Berbatov in 2008, but they had made a big statement by stealing Robinho from under Chelsea's noses. So I expect they were delighted when Robinho announced: "Chelsea made a great proposal on the last day and I accepted". When asked if he meant Manchester City, Robinho replied: "Yeah. Manchester. Sorry!" PA 3/10 Ryan Babel's mystery flight Ryan Babel was spotted getting in a helicopter bound for London on deadline day in 2010 but where was he headed? No move ever materialised and the mystery continues to this day. Just where was the Babelcopter going? REX IMAGES 4/10 How much? When Chelsea splashed £50m on Fernando Torres, in 2011, some felt they'd overpaid. Fortunately Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool were on hand to put things into perspective by immediately spending £35m of that money on Andy Carroll - a man with just a good half season of Premier League football behind him. Dalglish lost his job and Carroll is now at West Ham. AFP/Getty 5/10 Julian Faubert to Real Madrid Arguably one of the strangest transfers of all time, in 2009 Real Madrid took Julian Faubert on loan from West Ham. To the surprise of no one it wasn't a success, Faubert made just two appearances and once fell asleep while on the bench during a game. GETTY IMAGES 6/10 Arshavin arrival When that window slams shut (it always slams) trading ceases - unless you're Arsenal that is. The £15m arrival of Andrei Arshavin in 2009 had Gooners waiting for confirmation a full 24 hours after Big Ben had struck midnight. There was some excuse about adverse weather conditions, but that didn't stop Arsenal's Premier League rivals from raising an eyebrow or two. GETTY IMAGES 7/10 David Beckham joins PSG While any criticism of Sir David of course borders on sacrilege, and Beckham's decision to give all his wages from the club to a children's charity is to be applauded, the fact that he chose to make the move on deadline day when as a free agent he could move whenever he liked, did seem quite a lot like attention-seeking. Getty Images 8/10 Benjani's airport nap Sounding more like the badly thought through excuse of a schoolboy than a reason that almost scuppered a transfer, Benjani wrote his way into deadline day folklore in 2008. Flying from Portsmouth to Manchester to finalise a move to City, the striker rather unfortunately fell asleep in the airport, missing two planes and nearly ruining his chances of a move. In the end Man City fans must have wished he had. GETTY IMAGES 9/10 Samba time Nothing sums up the mad decisions made by desperate clubs during the January window than the signing of Chris Samba by QPR. The relegation threatened club forked out an incredible £12.5m to bring in the former Blackburn centre-back to save their season - and also agreed to pay him £100,000 a week. Turned out he wasn't much help, at one stage even having to apologise for being at fault for two goals in the west-London derby defeat to Fulham. QPR were relegated and Samba returned to Anzhi Makhachkala. GETTY IMAGES 10/10 Alan Pardew's lucky day Bizarrely and seemingly with a whiff of something shady, 2006 saw Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano arrive at West Ham looking more than a little confused. In the end the third party deal was ruled illegal and West Ham had to pay a £5.5m fine and £20m compensation to Sheffield United who were relegated when Tevez's goals kept West Ham in the league later that season. GETTY IMAGES

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