Liverpool's 23 year old German midfielder Emre Can has seen his latest contract talks grind to a halt, with journalists briefed that the player is demanding a release clause in his contract.
The player joined the reds in the summer of 2014 from Bayer Leverkusen, signing a four year deal which expires at the end of this season. He is free to sign a pre-contract with a club from January. The speculation in recent weeks is that this could be to Juventus.
The ball began to roll on contract talks just over a year ago in the summer of 2016. The player, who has been one of LFC's most used outfield players in the past 3 years is believed to be earning around £35k a week - below the majority of the first XI.
At the time he was rumoured to want a new contract in the region of £70k a week but the reds struggled to do a deal and contract talks were put on hold in March.
Final year of his deal
His situation mirrored that of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Arsenal. In that case the reds paid out £40M for the player who had just 10 months left on his contract. But the reds never looked seriously at selling Emre Can this past window and now face the prospect of a young international centre midfielder leaving for nothing.
The reds have brought Oxlade-Chamberlain in, as well as signing a pre-contract with Naby Keita for next summer.
The length of time these contract talks have been ongoing suggest either Emre Can is playing extreme hardball or has already made his decision to leave Liverpool.
It will be interesting to see how Jurgen Klopp handles the player, who both finished last season and started this season in good form.
His 'goal of the season' last year against Watford won the game for the reds at a crucial period of the season in the quest for Champions League, and the reds have not lost a competitive game since.
Liverpool paid just under £10M for the player following the departure of Luis Suarez (ironically after his release clause was activated by Barcelona). He has 10 goals from 133 appearances in his 3 years at Anfield.
The British press have suggested that Man Utd and Chelsea have an interest in the player.