brendan rodgers
Liverpool are looking to snatch River Plate's Eder Alvarez Balanta to reinforce Brendan Rodger's defensive line Reuters

Liverpool have reportedly joined the race to snatch River Plate defender Eder Alvarez Balanta, with Chelsea considered as primary rivals, while Barcelona are looming on the sidelines.

The Colombian international, 21, is currently playing a significant role in Los Millonarios' campaign in the Argentina top-flight, starting 28 of their 36 games translating to 15 clean sheets while he was on the pitch, which impressed scouts from Europe.

His strings of impressive performances caught the eye of national team manager Jose Pekerman, who called him up to the senior squad to play a friendly against Tunisia in March.

Sources suggest that his buy-out clause, which is around £12million, will only mean that he could definitely leave this summer to play at a higher level.

Meanwhile, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is looking to reinforce his back-line, with centre-back Daniel Agger expected to move on after a falling out and Mamadou Sakho failing to establish himself as a worthy regular.

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