Liverpool pinches youngster Solanke from Chelsea

Liverpool agreed personal terms with promising Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke on Tuesday, with the England Under-20 international set to become an official member of the Reds on July 1.

The 19-year-old's contract in London expires on June 30, but reports earlier on Tuesday stated that Liverpool will later pay a fee decided by tribunal because Solanke was developed by Chelsea. A similar process happened following the 2015 nab of Danny Ings from Burnley, with the Merseyside club ordered to hand over a sum of up to £8 million for the Clarets' role in his footballing education.

Solanke was apparently disenchanted with a lack of first-team opportunities at Chelsea, with his only senior involvement over the 2016-17 season coming as an unused substitute in two League Cup matches and a Premier League visit from Leicester City. This is despite the Reading-born forward being regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in England for some time, and helping the Blues to an abundance of youth-level silverware since he joined the Under-8 age group.

Liverpool also approached Chelsea for an out-of-favour English star in the past, when Daniel Sturridge was snapped up for around £12 million in January 2013.

Solanke is currently in South Korea on the England Under-20s' World Cup campaign. Paul Simpson's squad advanced into the knockout rounds atop Group A, with Solanke getting on the scoresheet in an impressive 3-0 open-day humbling of Argentina's bairns.

His only drawn-out taste of professional club football was on loan at Vitesse Arnhem in the 2015-16 season, when he scored seven goals and laid on one assist. He became the youngest Chelsea player to participate in the Champions League in 2014 when he was given a cameo against Maribor, aged 17 and 37 days, but that was his only competitive outing for the club.