Liverpool have reportedly received a major boost in their pursuit of Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, who is no longer on Barcelona's managerial shortlist.
The 39-year-old is understood to have been earmarked as the Reds' top target to replace Jurgen Klopp, who will leave his post after nine distinguished years at the end of the season.
Klopp announced his decision publicly in January two months after giving the club's hierarchy the heads-up, but Fenway Sports Group had a couple of loose ends to tie up before turning their attention to the German's successor.
Liverpool's owners managed to twist the arm of ex-Reds sporting director Michael Edwards, who is now working for FSG as their CEO of Football, while Richard Hughes has agreed to become the club's new sporting director.
With their upstairs appointments now taken care of, it is all systems go on the managerial search front, and Amorim left the door open to leaving Sporting when pressed on the Liverpool links in Friday's press conference.
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Barcelona priced out of Amorim move
The Reds have now been handed significant encouragement in their pursuit of Amorim, whom Sport claims is no longer on Barcelona's list of head coaches to replace Xavi this summer.
A matter of hours had passed from Klopp's exit announcement before Xavi surprisingly told a press conference that he would be leaving his Blaugrana post in the wake of a 5-3 loss to Villarreal in La Liga.
Barcelona chiefs have refused to throw in the towel in their efforts to keep Xavi, who has overseen a positive run of form since dropping his resignation bombshell, but the Spaniard remains adamant that he will be leaving the club.
Amorim naturally emerged as a contender for the Camp Nou gig, but the report claims that Barcelona are no longer making a play for the Sporting boss for a number of reasons, namely his hefty release clause.
The 39-year-old's termination option was originally said to be £12.8m for foreign clubs, but the Spanish outlet instead reports that Barcelona would have to fork out €20m (£17.2m) to buy him out of his Sporting contract.
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Barcelona concerned by Amorim's lack of experience
The cash-strapped Catalans are in no position to pay such an amount for a new head coach, and sporting director Deco is also said to harbour concerns about Amorim's relative lack of managerial experience.
The former Benfica player took his first job in management with Casa Pia in 2018 and has since won five major honours across his spells with Braga and Sporting, including one Primeira Liga title.
Amorim's current club are currently on course for a top flight and Taca de Portugal double this season, but having only taken charge of Portuguese clubs during the embryonic stages of his coaching career, Barcelona are supposedly after a candidate with more varied experience.
As a result, Liverpool seemingly have no outside roadblocks preventing them from pursuing Amorim, who said on Friday that he would leave Sporting if he failed to deliver a trophy to the club's fans this season.
The Lions are one point clear at the top of the Primeira Liga table with a game in hand on Benfica, though, and they will take on either Porto or Vitoria de Guimaraes in the Taca de Portugal final next month.
Ben Knapton
