Charles De Ketelaere appears to be on the brink of a move to Milan, and Club Brugge team-mate Hans Vanaken revealed the Belgian champions' squad are resigned to his departure.
Milan are in the market for attacking reinforcements after winning their first Serie A title since 2010-11 last season, and Brugge star De Ketelaere has emerged as a target after scoring 18 goals in all competitions last term.
The Rossoneri's sporting director Paolo Maldini revealed he was confident of striking a deal for the 21-year-old after travelling to Belgium for talks this week, despite Brugge coach Carl Hoefkens insisting De Ketelaere would only be permitted to leave "at the right time".
De Ketelaere's team-mate Vanaken has revealed the Brugge players are resigned to losing the Belgium international, who he believes has the quality to star in Serie A.
"Against Milan in the Champions League could be a nice reunion," Vanaken told Belgian newspaper HLN.
"I haven't seen Paolo Maldini here this week, no. But we all read it too. There are no secrets.
"We all know that Milan will go to any lengths to get Charles. We're not swinging all those La Gazzetta dello Sport covers here, but we do speak some Italian to him sometimes.
"Charles is a super talent who has grown enormously here in three years. He has shown that he is ready to take the step."
However, De Ketelaere may not have made his final Brugge appearance after Hoefkens confirmed he is available for their season opener against Genk on Sunday.
"For me, he is still part of club. He is also available for Sunday," Hoefkens said of the attacking midfielder. "This is not easy for him, he has never experienced anything like it.
"It's something special, we're trying to understand it as best we can."
Milan will hope to have De Ketelaere on board when they begin their Serie A title defence against Udinese on August 13.
Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display
Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.
Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.
Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq.
Data Debrief: Clinical finishers
Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.
With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.
Jurgen Klopp defends 'unlucky' Darwin Nunez amid Liverpool exit talk
Jurgen Klopp insists he is not aware of any speculation regarding the future of Darwin Nunez as he defended the out-of-form forward.
Nunez missed a good chance in last weekend's 4-2 win over Tottenham as his run without a goal extended to an eighth game in all competitions.
The Uruguay international came in for criticism and later deleted all images of himself in a Liverpool shirt on his personal Instagram account.
Rumours regarding a possible end-of-season exit for Nunez have circulated in recent weeks, with Barcelona supposedly among those interested.
However, when asked about the 24-year-old at Friday's press conference, Klopp said: "There is no speculation. That must be external.
"I'm not involved in that anymore. It's just the situation we're in. He was definitely not happy missing that chance [against Tottenham].
"He has been unlucky in so many situations. He does everything right and the ball doesn't go in. There are no alternatives but going through it."
Nunez has 31 goals and assists combined in all competitions this season - a tally only Mohamed Salah (38) can better among Liverpool players.
He is in contention to feature for Liverpool against Aston Villa on Monday as the Reds look to end Klopp's tenure on a winning run.
The German has just two games left in charge, with the contest at Villa Park followed by the visit of Wolves at Anfield six days later.
Klopp risks having to watch that Anfield finale from the stands, though, as he will incur a touchline suspension should he receive a yellow card against Villa.
Asked about that possibility, Klopp told reporters: "I've known this for a long time. I've only got two yellow cards [this season]. A few of my colleagues have already got suspended, so I've got calmer over the years.
"I don't need to be on the touchline [for the final game with Wolves], but it would be cool. It will not be from my side, but I will try absolutely everything not to be involved in any discussions!"
Al-Akhdoud 2-3 Al-Nassr: Brozovic stunner delays Al-Hilal coronation
Marcelo Brozovic scored twice – including a fine half-volley in second-half stoppage time – as Al-Nassr beat Al-Akhdoud 3-2 to delay Al-Hilal's Saudi Pro League title coronation on Thursday.
Former Inter midfielder Brozovic fired in a seventh-minute opener from outside the area before Cristiano Ronaldo tapped into an empty net to double the visitors' lead.
Sadio Mane struck the woodwork early in the second half and Al-Nassr relinquished control of the game from there, with goals from Hassan Al Habib and Saviour Godwin making it 2-2.
However, Brozovic blasted a bouncing ball home following a goalmouth scramble in the first of seven minutes of stoppage time to hand Al-Nassr a fifth straight win and keep them within nine points of Al-Hilal, with three games still to play.
They have only delayed the inevitable though as the leaders – who have only dropped four points all season – need just one more point to secure their crown ahead of facing Al-Hazm on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Brozovic upstages Ronaldo
While it's usually Ronaldo writing the headlines for Al-Nassr, he was upstaged by Brozovic on Thursday as the Croatian found the net with both of his shots, also leading all players on the pitch for final-third passes (19) and completing 90.1 per cent of his passes overall (81/95).
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