Chelsea and Liverpool set to battle for Leipzig forward Lois Openda

Lois Openda joined RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023

According to reports, Chelsea and Liverpool are prepared to compete for the services of a new striker with an £80 million price tag alongside Manchester United.

All of the Premier League's top teams are reportedly interested in hiring Lois Openda from RB Leipzig.

After being successful in acquiring Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai this summer, Liverpool is reportedly seeking to try and acquire the 23-year-old, as reported by BILD journalist Christian Falk.

However, Chelsea have also been rumoured to be interested in the Belgian international, so the Reds are going to face a contest for his services.

According to Fichajes, the Stamford Bridge team is eager to recruit Openda as they seek to end their striker shortage.

In the past few seasons, the Blues have struggled to find the ideal centre forward for their lineup, but Mauricio Pochettino is rumoured to be enthusiastic about the idea of bringing Openda to London in January.

Openda has four goals in his six Bundesliga games this season, and Leipzig, aware of the quality they have on their hands, reportedly values him at approximately £80 million.

The attacker moved from RC Lens to the Germans this summer after helping the Ligue 1 team finish one point behind PSG in the championship the previous year.

He may be stolen away despite having just entered Red Bull Arena according to rumours of a release clause in his contract.

His current contract reportedly contains a release clause valued in excess of £65 million, but oddly, it won't go into effect until 2025.

This would imply that if Chelsea and Liverpool are interested in signing the budding star before 2025, they may have to pay above market value to seal a deal.

Furthermore, Fichajes' report that Manchester United is interested in the former Club Brugge player means they may have even greater competition in their search.