Premier League champions Liverpool are ready to meet Watford's £40million asking price for Ismaila Sarr, according to The Sun.

Sarr was amongst Watford’s most impressive performers last season in what was his debut campaign in English football, with the winger managing to register five league goals and provide a further four assists, but that tally was unable to help the Hornets avoid relegation to the Championship.

Watford will be needing to raise some funds if they are to invest some more into their squad in their attempts to bounce back at the first time of asking, and that means that sanctioning a move away for Sarr could enable Vladimir Ivic to strengthen his squad in the coming weeks before the window closes.

Quiz: What club did Watford sign each of these 14 players on loan from?

It is thought that Watford are open to selling the 22-year-old and had informed Liverpool of their valuation of Sarr a few weeks ago, and the Reds are now prepared to meet that £40million valuation as they see the winger as being more prepared to wait for first-team minutes than some of their other targets.

The verdict

Losing Sarr has seemed like it was going to be inevitable for Watford since they suffered relegation from the Premier League, with the attacker having already had a year to adapt to the English top-flight and show his worth at that level which he did with a number of promising performances.

Whilst it would be a blow for Watford to lose such a quality player from their squad, it would enable them to generate some funds to add to their squad as they look to regroup and get back into the Premier League at the first time of asking – and £40 million would provide them with the funds needed to add more quality.

Sarr was a very good signing by Watford last summer, but unfortunately for the Hornets they did not make enough of those types of deals to see them maintain their Premier League status – and so they will need to move on swiftly and see other players step up and fill the void he will leave in the squad.