Bayern have already told £26m player they want to sign him, Liverpool could try and stop them

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Liverpool are set to do battle with Bayern Munich in the race to sign Wolfsburg defender Micky van de Ven.

The Netherlands U21 star has done well in the Bundesliga, leading to suggestions that Liverpool may sign him. But as usually happens when players impress in the German top-fight, Bayern are also said to be hot on his trail.

Writing for CaughtOffside today, journalist Christian Falk has all the latest.

“As with Kim Min-jae, the Bundesliga champions have Premier League competition to contend with as Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg is wanted by both Bayern and Liverpool,” Falk reports.

“It’s the Reds that have a slight edge given that it was their new sporting director, Jorg Schmadtke, who brought van de Ven to Wolfsburg from FC Volendam in 2021 for a fee of just €3.5m [£3m]. The 22-year-old’s market value is now €18m [£15m], and he has a contract at Wolfsburg that runs until 2027 without an exit clause. Schmadtke knows best.”

Liverpool set for Bayern battle

Funnily enough, Liverpool had also been linked with a move for the other player mentioned here – Napoli’s Kim Min-jae. However, it seems as though the Reds were never really in that race at all.

Bayern most certainly are, though. Whether or not they are able to bring in the big Korean may determine just how hard they push for Van de Ven.

If they do turn their full attention towards the Wolfsburg man, it may be tricky for Liverpool to compete.

With both clubs in the Champions League, this would be a pretty even fight. It may be anyway. But as the Reds have dropped into the Europa League for next year, they could easily be at a disadvantage.

Having said that, it’s worth noting Falk’s point about Schmadtke. The new Liverpool sporting director obviously knows Van de Ven well, having brought him to Saxony from the Netherlands two years ago.

It isn’t completely out of the question that Jurgen Klopp had this in mind when hiring the German for this summer.

As Van de Ven himself has pointed out this week, Liverpool have been following him for a while. Perhaps they needed Jorg to be the clincher with Bayern also lurking around the centre-back. We could be set for a real clash of the titans over the £26m-rated Dutchman.