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Liverpool will have to pay £20m for Jamal Lewis with Norwich under no pressure to sell

Jamal Lewis tussles with Kyle Walker  - AP
Jamal Lewis tussles with Kyle Walker - AP

Liverpool will have to pay at least double the £10 million the Premier League champions hope to land Norwich City defender Jamal Lewis for this summer.

Lewis has emerged as a target for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who believes the 22 year-old could be a valuable squad addition.

Able to play at left-back or in the centre of defence, Lewis would help to cover for the loss of Dejan Lovren and also provide back up for Andy Robertson.

Lewis is represented by the same company as Robertson, but any Liverpool move for the player would not be straightforward and an offer around £10m is likely to be instantly turned down.

Norwich rejected a £12m bid from Crystal Palace for Lewis in January and, despite their relegation from the Premier League, the Canaries are adamant they will not let any player go on anything but their own terms.

Lewis has three years remaining on his contract, which puts Norwich in a strong negotiating position and they value the player at a minimum of £20m.

Having been the lowest spenders during their year in the Premier League, Norwich are under no financial pressure to sell their best players.

Lewis is among a group of players, including Todd Cantwell, Max Aarons, Emi Buendia and Ben Godfrey, who are expected to attract interest.

Newly-promoted Leeds United have been linked with Buendia, while Aston Villa are believed to hold an interest in Aarons, who German reports have also linked with Bayern Munich.

But Norwich have proved in the past, when they sold James Maddison to Leicester City for £24m two years ago, that they will not roll over.

It remains to be seen whether or not Liverpool would be willing to negotiate a deal worth at least £20m for Lewis, who is also expected to receive offers from elsewhere.

Norwich's sporting director Stuart Webber said last month: "With all of our players we hold the cards and financially we're in a good place. It will be on our terms, we don't need to sell.

"It's really simple - two years ago we got just over £20 million from Leicester for James Maddison and that was for one season in the Championship, and when we needed money.

"But for anyone who thinks they can take one of our players, please look at that figure before you pick up the phone. That set the benchmark for our club and we are difficult to negotiate with when we're selling."