Liverpool are attempting to strengthen their academy ranks with the signing of Brazilian midfielder Allan Rodrigues de Souza from Internacional.

The 18-year-old impressed Liverpool coaches during the Frenz International Cup held in Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, when both the Merseyside and Brazilian clubs’ under-18s teams featured, and talks to bring the player from Porto Alegre to Anfield are under way.

Allan, as he is more succinctly known, would cost around £500,000 and represents part of a concerted effort by Liverpool to bolster their options at youth level this summer. The Anfield club have this week signed 16-year-old Dutch winger Bobby Adekanye, who was available after his 2011 move from Ajax to Barcelona was declared illegal by Fifa, and 17-year-old striker Brooks Lennon. The United States under-18 international spent a trial period at Liverpool in January 2014 and has joined from MLS side Real Salt Lake, where he scored 31 goals at academy level last season.

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Luis Alberto’s future, however, appears increasingly likely to lie away from Liverpool with Deportivo La Coruña interested in signing the Spanish midfielder on loan. The 22-year-old cost Liverpool £6.8m from Sevilla in 2013 but spent last season on loan at Málaga having struggled to impress Brendan Rodgers. The Liverpool manager does not consider Alberto part of his plans for next season and a switch to Deportivo may suit all parties.

Martin Skrtel, meanwhile, is expected to end his contract saga with Liverpool next week by signing a new three-year deal with the club. The Slovakia international defender has entered the final 12 months of his current contract and had rejected the club’s initial extension offer. A longer-term deal has now been agreed in principle and the 30-year-old is expected to sign when Liverpool’s first team squad report back for pre-season training next week.