Liverpool have accepted a bid from Hoffenheim for the Holland international Ryan Babel. The Bundesliga club have now been given permission to discuss personal terms with the player, who has travelled to Germany.

Babel had earlier expressed a desire to move away from Anfield in order to gain regular first-team football, suggesting that a move back to Ajax would help Liverpool in their pursuit of Luis Suárez, but it would now appear to Germany is his most likely destination, with newspaper Bild reporting the fee to be in the region of €7m (£5.8m).

"Following the departure of [Demba] Ba and the injury to [Chinedu] Obasi, we were in an emergency situation," Hoffenheim's owner, Dietmar Hopp, said. "Babel was one of the prime candidates who our general manager, Ernst Tanner, was most convinced about."

The 24-year-old could make his debut against St Pauli on Sunday, should the deal be completed in the next few days.

"For a player of my age it is important to be playing week in week out," Babel earlier told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. "For the chance to play I am willing to settle for far less pay."

Babel joined Liverpool from Ajax in 2007 for £11.5m but throughout his time at Anfield his form has been inconsistent and he has struggled to hold down a first-team place.