Chelsea have verbally agreed personal terms with one of two midfielders at the very top of Liverpool’s shortlist, with logic dictating the Reds now move for the second player, according to reports.

Liverpool chose not to sign a direct replacement for Curtis Jones over the summer, with the Reds instead opting to promote Trey Nyoni up the order.

Nyoni hasn’t looked out of place in the Premier League this season, though recent developments have exposed just how thin Liverpool’s options are.

Over the past few weeks, Ryan Gravenberch has served a one-match suspension and Dominik Szoboszlai has twice suffered minor hamstring issues.

For a club competing on four fronts and with a packed fixture list, possessing only four viable midfield options (Alexis Mac Allister being the other) is a ticking timebomb. Wataru Endo and James McConnell are not of the standard Andoni Iraola requires as options five and six.

It’s no secret Liverpool are admirers of Bournemouth’s Alex Scott. It’s also no secret the Cherries are now willing to sell the England international in January, with a fee in the £90m-£100m range touted as being required.

But according to Chelsea reporter, Simon Phillips, it’s the Blues who’ve verbally agreed a deal with 23-year-old Scott.

Furthermore, he stated Chelsea are now racing to seal a club-to-club agreement with Bournemouth even before the winter window opens.

Phillips’ full assessment on Chelsea’s move for Scott can be found later in this piece, but for now, Liverpool must seemingly look to alternatives if they’re to bolster their midfield mid-season.

And according to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, the choice for the Reds is obvious – Monaco’s Lamine Camara.

Lamine Camara becomes top Liverpool target by default?

Taking to X, he wrote: ‘Lamine Camara (Monaco) and Alex Scott (Bournemouth) are two players on Liverpool’s shortlist for the central midfield position.

‘Liverpool also hold Felix Nmecha of Borussia Dortmund in high regard. However, he is currently NOT a priority target.’

With Nmecha not a priority and Scott on course for Stamford Bridge, it’s 22-year-old Camara who may now be Liverpool’s de facto top target.

Regarding cost, Camara can be signed for much less than the price of landing Scott. In the summer just gone, Chelsea saw a fully agreed deal to sign Camara worth £47m fall through at the eleventh hour.

The Blues have chosen not to go back in for Camara amid their anger at how Monaco conducted their business on deadline day, which ultimately left Chelsea a man short after Enzo Fernandez left for Manchester City.

Chelsea to sign Alex Scott?

Reporting on YouTube, Simon Phillips explained: “Basically, I heard late last week that Chelsea now want to get the deal done before the transfer window opens.

“So, by the end of December, they want it all agreed, in place, so they can get him in at the start of the window, get him to help as soon as possible.

“You certainly need him. He keeps the ball well, keeps the ball very well, good passer of the ball, progressive with his passing and his running. So, yeah, he would certainly help in that sense.

“Yeah, Chelsea are looking to agree a fee with Bournemouth, believed to be about £90-£100million. I think we might see a £90m base fee.

“Everything on the player side is provisionally done or verbally done because Chelsea did all that in the summer.

“Alonso spoke to Scott himself and convinced him to come to Chelsea.

“It’s not done yet. It’s important to say it’s not done yet because other clubs are interested.

“Scott could easily change his mind, Chelsea have not agreed a fee with Bournemouth yet, so, it’s not done yet.

“Important to say that. Unfortunately, I always have to make sure I state that.

“But yeah, the terms are there on the table. Scott’s just got to sign the terms. He has agreed to them verbally.

“They fit within Chelsea’s wage structure. He will get a nice bonus for Champions League qualification this season, which most of the players are on actually.

“So, all of that side is good, all of that side is ready to go, and it’s just a case of Chelsea agreeing a fee with Bournemouth.

“But again, as I keep saying, it’s got that feel of inevitability about it.

“Scott has spoken with a number of the Chelsea players that are there already, so there’s already that, you know, setting up for him to become a Chelsea player in January.

“So, yeah, big, big progression there with that one. We just have got to wait now a few weeks to see if we can get that done.

“Hopefully we can get it over the line for the winter window.”