Liverpool have received a huge boost with Fiorentina's Brazilian goalkeeper, Neto deciding against renewing his contract with the Italian club.
After a series of unimpressive performance by Liverpool's number one, Simon Mignolet, Brendan Rodgers has identified some targets to replace the Belgian.
Neto is one of those players along with Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech, who has been linked to a number of other clubs as well.
Rodgers has been a frustrated soul after a number of goalkeeping errors from the present shot-stopper Mignolet, with the Northern Irishman even dropping the Belgian for a few matches, and handing over the goalkeeping duties to Brad Jones, who suffered a thigh injury against Burnley recently.
Neto's club, Fiorentina released an official statement revealing the player's decision to reject the latest contract offer.
"ACF Fiorentina must announce that goalkeeper Norberto Murara Neto today officially informed the club of his intention not to prolong his contract with the Viola. The decision is definitive," the statement read.
"Neto was keen to make it known that his decision is entirely unrelated to financial motivations, with his desire to be free to decide his own future the sole reason behind his move."
With the Italian giants destined to lose the 6ft 3in Brazilian goalkeeper, they might be eager to offload the goalie in the January transfer window itself, so as not to incur losses by letting him move on a free in the summer.
This sounds logical business only if the Serie A side finds a suitable replacement as well.
With this official statement, a number of teams would have had their interest piqued for the goalkeeper. Other clubs linked with the Brazilian are Juventus and AS Roma.
But, Liverpool have an advantage over the Italian suitors. Considering the UEFA rules, Neto cannot sign a pre-contract with a fellow Serie A team, while he is free to put pen to paper on a deal with Liverpool, in view of a free transfer in the summer.
Liverpool need to act quickly, as Neto could provide a perfect solution to their goalkeeping problems.
If the deal goes through, Neto could directly replace Mignolet in the starting eleven.
No doubt, the Belgian is a good shot-stopper, but he looks troubled when facing aerial balls, primarily from corners, and his distribution from the back is below par. Hence, Neto could be an improvement over Mignolet in several departments.
