According to the Telegraph, Liverpool have opened negotiations with Stoke City over the transfer of Xherdan Shaqiri.

Liverpool’s forward line, which fired the Reds to a Champions League final last season, is already formidable. Yet Jurgen Klopp appears keen to add to it this summer.

Shaqiri suffered relegation from the Premier League with Stoke last season, and is almost certain to depart from the Potters this summer. The Swiss international is a Champions League winner who has played for Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in the past - he was never likely to stick around with a Championship outfit.

The 26-year-old was by far and away Stoke’s best player throughout the previous campaign, leading the club in both the goals and assists charts. Transfermarkt value him at £16.2 million, though the aforementioned report suggests he has a release clause in the region of £12 million.

Signing Shaqiri makes a degree of sense for the Anfield outfit, and would bolster the club’s attacking options, but it would likely mean having to move one or two others out of the club.

The Breakdown

Amongst the Liverpool players likely to be transfer listed should Shaqiri arrive is Divock Origi.

Origi was signed by Liverpool in 2014 and then immediately loan back to the selling club, Lille. The Belgium international began playing in the Premier League the following year but struggled to put himself in starting lineup picture over the course of 2 seasons and spent last season out on loan at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.

After a fairly underwhelming spell in Germany, Liverpool may now see fit to move the 23-year-old on permanently. That’s where Wolves should come in.

Nuno Espirito Santo has already brought two strikers to the club this summer, but having one with previous Premier League experience wouldn’t go amiss either as he prepares his side for life in the top flight. 

This is a particularly good opportunity for Wolves as Origi is likely to be available for less than the £9 million he is rated at by Transfermarkt, due to the fact he is entering the final year of his contract.

Wolves have the finances to bring Origi to Molineux and in doing so they’d be getting a very talented young forward, once one of the most exciting prospects in Europe, who still has his best years ahead of him. Not only that, but after failing to make the grade at Anfield, Origi will almost certainly feel he has a point to prove.