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Lucas Leiva’s Liverpool future is unlikely to be decided until the end of the transfer window.

The long-serving Brazilian midfielder is wanted by Galatasaray but Reds boss Jurgen Klopp isn’t currently willing to sanction his sale.

Klopp’s defensive options have been severely depleted by injuries to Mamadou Sakho, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

Lucas, who filled in at centre-back at times last season, is also sidelined after suffering a hamstring strain in the friendly against Huddersfield Town but should be fit in the next fortnight.

Klopp is in no rush to off-load the 29-year-old, who recently entered the final year of his contract.

However, the manager knows he probably won’t be in a position to offer Lucas the kind of game time he wants this season.

The arrival of summer signings Marko Grujic and Gini Wijnaldum has increased the competition for central midfield spots alongside the likes of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and James Milner.

Galatasaray will be able to guarantee Lucas a more prominent role but that deal will only happen if and when Klopp believes he has sufficient cover defensively later this month.

Liverpool hope that Matip, who arrived from Schalke this summer, will be fit for the start of the new Premier League season.

The Cameroon international sat out all three matches on the tour of America due to pain in his foot and has missed two-and-a-half weeks of pre-season training.

In his absence, Ragnar Klavan has impressed alongside Dejan Lovren - Klopp’s only two fit senior centre-backs.

Lucas is Liverpool’s longest serving player having made 315 appearances since his £5million move from Gremio nine years ago.

He was on the brink of joining Besiktas last summer but an injury to Henderson led to the deal being called off.