Liverpool prepared to pay £12m to sign Luciano Vietto, who cost £4.8m in summer

Luciano Vietto has been linked with a sensational move to Liverpool after his performances in La Liga caught the club's eye once again.

The Argentine was linked with the Reds last year while playing for Racing Club in Argentina, but they did not pursue their interest.

The forward instead signed for Spanish side Villareal for the bargain fee of £4.8 million, where he has scored 12 goals in 23 games, with six assists.

He has been one of the real finds of the season, and now The Mirror report Liverpool want to pay £12 million to bring him to Anfield in January.

Whether that will be enough to convince Villareal to part with the forward is another matter, with the paper comparing him in style to Manchester City frontman Sergio Aguero.

Going back for the South American would in part be an admission of failure on the part of the Reds in failing to snap him up the first time around, and it would be to their financial cost having passed up the chance of snap him up first time around.

What they have now however is more evidence of Vietto's ability, and should hold more confidence he can cut it in European football, while the 21-year-old will be more astute and developed as a result of playing La Liga football.