Bayern Munich reportedly failed in an attempt to hijack Liverpool’s deal for Sepp van den Berg’s while the defender was undergoing his medical with the Reds.
Liverpool announced the Dutch teenager as their first summer signing on Thursday, confirming Van den Berg had signed a long-term contract.
The deal is worth £1.3 million, but could end up paying PEC Zwolle £4.4m for the 17-year-old.
Van den Berg’s potential is known across the top clubs in Europe and the Times claim Bayern failed in a dramatic bid to hijack the deal.
Bayern flooded Van den Berg’s team with calls on Wednesday hoping to persuade the centre-back to ditch his move to Anfield.
But Van den Berg was in the middle of his medical when Bayern and Liverpool were able to see off the late competition.
The Reds moved quickly to secure the services of Van den Berg and believe he can blossom into a first-team star as quickly as Joe Gomez did.
Gomez signed as a teenager from Charlton in 2015 and was one of Liverpool’s stand-out performers at the start of last season before injury interrupted his campaign.
Van den Berg is set to start off life at Liverpool with the under-18s and will report for pre-season on 6 July.
The transfer will not go through officially until 1 July.
MORE: Liverpool confirm Sepp van den Berg as first summer signing
