Liverpool Transfer News: Latest on Ben Chilwell and Juanma Rumours

Liverpool are lining up an improved £8 million offer for Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell, per Alan Nixon of the Sun.

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp is desperate to recruit the 19-year-old left-back and is willing to offer the youngster a long-term contract in order to persuade him to make the move to Anfield.

However, the Premier League champions are eager for the England under-21 international to remain at King Power Stadium and have reportedly already offered the young star a bumper, five-year contract. 

Yet to break through with the east Midlands outfit, Chilwell is playing second fiddle to Austria international Christian Fuchs on the left of Leicester's settled back four, with manager Claudio Ranieri—formerly known as the "Tinkerman" for his regular rotation while coach of Chelsea—now preferring a settled starting XI.

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Per James Pearce of the Mirror, despite Klopp's lavish spending this summer—the Reds have coughed up about £60 million on the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane—he is still in the market for a new defender to replace Alberto Moreno.

The Spanish full-back has failed to convince his German coach of his defensive capabilities and fell out of favour with the Anfield supporters following a disappointing performance in the UEFA Europa League final against former club Sevilla last term.

Chilwell made a senior appearance for the Foxes this week in the penalty shootout victory over Scottish champions Celtic in Leicester's first match of their pre-season tournament in the International Champions Cup.

However, this was the teenager's first real taste of first-team football under Ranieri, having been sent out on loan to Huddersfield Town in the Championship during the 2015-16 campaign.

Chilwell voiced his delight at playing 90 minutes in pre-season, per LCFC:

"

WATCH: #lcfc's Ben Chilwell talks after his side won 6-5 on penalties at Celtic Park in the #ICC2016.https://t.co/HnvQYGSNsy

— Leicester City (@LCFC) July 23, 2016"

Per WhoScored.com, Chilwell made eight appearances for the Terriers last year before returning to the English champions.

Elsewhere, Liverpool are trialing former Barcelona youth product Juanma, per Andy Kelly of the Liverpool Echo.

The 19-year-old will spend a week training under ex-Dortmund coach Klopp before the club come to any conclusion over a potential move. The Spaniard featured at left-back for the under-21 side in their clash with Welsh Premier League side Rhyl FC and reportedly produced a smart cross and assist in the 4-1 victory.

Per Kelly, Liverpool's under-21s manager Michael Beale is keen to have a closer look at the former La Masia starlet. He said: 

"

Juanma is a boy who’s come in to spend the week with us with a view to maybe seeing more of him. He’s only had a couple of days training with us, speaks very little English but you can see a very good player. He had a fantastic assist for Brooks Lennon.

He was at Barcelona so we’ll have a look and see how we go with him. He played with (fellow Academy players) Madger Gomes and Pedro Chirivella with Spain so we’re quite familiar with him.

He’s very versatile and can play in different positions because technically he’s very good. I quite like him, he reminds me a little bit of someone like a Pablo Zabaleta-type player, a nice player.

"

The defender has proved his versatility in the past with performances at centre-back during his time with the Liga champions' youth setup. Per Kelly, he made 17 appearances in the UEFA Youth League, including six as captain.