Reports in France claim Liverpool are locked in a battle with cross city rivals Everton for the services off QPR's Stephane Mbia.

The midfielder was shipped out from the R's when they were relegated at the end of last season and he has been on loan at Sevilla this term, but his current deal with the La Liga club ends in June and, if they fail to take up an option on him, he could be coming back to the Premier League.

The 27-year-old has apparently made it clear that he wants to play Champions League football, which the Reds have already qualified for, but Everton are in a battle with Arsenal to for the final place in the competition which could work in Brendan Rodgers' favour.

Reds' managing director Ian Ayre has confirmed the club will be spending big in the summer to ensure they have a squad to cope with Champions League football and Mbia may turn out to be part of that.

Mbia opened the scoring on Thursday evening as Sevilla defeated fellow Spaniards Valencia 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

Source: ClubCall