As reported by The Daily Mirror, Liverpool are stepping up their efforts to sign Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope this summer, building up information on the player with a serious of background checks.

What's the story?

Loris Karius' position as number one at the Reds is precarious after his howlers in the UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid and it seems that Jurgen Klopp is edging closer to finding a successor.

The Mirror say that the Anfield club are interested in an £18m move for Nick Pope, happy enough with his ability after his performances for Burnley last season, but now performing checks on his personality and mentality ahead of a potential switch.

The paper say that Pope is a budget option in comparison to other targets like Roma's Alisson and Stoke's Jack Butland.

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Game over for Karius?

It was always going to be difficult for Loris Karius to recover from what happened against Real Madrid in May, but surely the fact that Klopp feels the need to sign a new goalkeeper spells the end of his Liverpool career?

It would demonstrate there isn't much faith in the German 24-year-old, with the player also unlikely to be happy to sit on the bench at this stage of his development.

There's always the slim chance that he stays to battle for the position with a new number one, but it's not like the Reds don't have a stable of credible back-up options.

Can Pope make the step up?

Now 26-years-of-age, Nick Pope has had to battle to hard to reach the top level, making appearances in the Conference South, Conference Premier, League Two and the English Championship before shining in the English Premier League.

He's dealt with every challenge so far in his career well and all signs point to him being able to make the step up to a top six side like Liverpool too.

He wouldn't be in and around the England squad if he didn't have the right mentality and at the reported £18m, he could well end up being a bargain for Liverpool.

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