Chelsea and Liverpool set to battle for Max Kruse

The Werder Bremen forward impressed last season in the Bundesliga and both Liverpool and Chelsea are interested in acquiring his goalscoring prowess for the upcoming season.

The 29-year-old German international impressed last season for Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga, scoring 15 goals and registering seven assists in just 23 appearances as Bremen narrowly missed out on a Europa League qualification spot. 

Kruse has always had a consistently decent scoring record in the Bundesliga with 57 goals and has only failed to score more than 10 goals in a season on two occasions. 

According to German newspaper Sport Bild, Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea are set to battle it out for the German's signature. Werder Breman will not stand in the way of the forward as long as their asking price of £16 million is met. 

While Kruse likely won't be starting regularly for Liverpool and Chelsea, with the latter already announcing a deal for Alvaro Morata, he will add depth to both teams especially with the two clubs competing in the Champions League in the upcoming season. 

Chelsea are expected to sell Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi while Liverpool only have the injury-prone pair of Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge. Kruse could prove vital as both clubs will inevitably engage in squad rotation in order to compete on all fronts.