Liverpool have agreed a fee to sign Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez from Dutch club Ajax for £23m.
The deal for the 24-year-old striker is subject to Suarez passing a medical and agreeing personal terms with the Premier League club.
Liverpool initially bid £12.7m for Suarez, but Ajax told them to come back with a more "respectful" offer.
That led to Liverpool almost doubling their offer to tempt the Dutch giants to sell the forward.
Clubs usually have to pay a premium to sign players during the January transfer window - Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko reportedly cost Manchester City £27m earlier this month - and Ajax have made a £16.6m profit on a player they bought from Groningen for £6.4m in 2007.
During his spell with the Amsterdam club Suarez scored 81 goals in 108 appearances. His scoring ratio for Uruguay is one goal in ever three internationals, having scored 10 times in 30 games, including three goals in last summer's World Cup.
Suarez missed Uruguay's semi-final defeat by the Netherlands in South Africa after he was shown a straight red card for the illegal goal-line clearance which kept out Dominic Adiyah's header in the South American side's quarter-final penalty shoot-out win over the African side.
Last weekend Suarez, who has scored seven goals in the Dutch league this season, spoke of his desire to play in the Premier League.
"I used to think that English football was not my style," the Uruguayan, who turned 24 on Monday, told the Sunday Times. "But I saw Carlos Tevez play at Boca and Corinthians and I never imagined that he would play in the Premier League.
"When I see the way that Tevez plays there I think I can be a big name in England. It's because of the energy, and the spirit they put into the game in England. Now, I think it's a kind of football that suits me."
The deal for the 24-year-old striker is subject to Suarez passing a medical and agreeing personal terms with the Premier League club.
Liverpool initially bid £12.7m for Suarez, but Ajax told them to come back with a more "respectful" offer.
That led to Liverpool almost doubling their offer to tempt the Dutch giants to sell the forward.
Clubs usually have to pay a premium to sign players during the January transfer window - Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko reportedly cost Manchester City £27m earlier this month - and Ajax have made a £16.6m profit on a player they bought from Groningen for £6.4m in 2007.
During his spell with the Amsterdam club Suarez scored 81 goals in 108 appearances. His scoring ratio for Uruguay is one goal in ever three internationals, having scored 10 times in 30 games, including three goals in last summer's World Cup.
Suarez missed Uruguay's semi-final defeat by the Netherlands in South Africa after he was shown a straight red card for the illegal goal-line clearance which kept out Dominic Adiyah's header in the South American side's quarter-final penalty shoot-out win over the African side.
Last weekend Suarez, who has scored seven goals in the Dutch league this season, spoke of his desire to play in the Premier League.
"I used to think that English football was not my style," the Uruguayan, who turned 24 on Monday, told the Sunday Times. "But I saw Carlos Tevez play at Boca and Corinthians and I never imagined that he would play in the Premier League.
"When I see the way that Tevez plays there I think I can be a big name in England. It's because of the energy, and the spirit they put into the game in England. Now, I think it's a kind of football that suits me."
