Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres is poised to fly into Liverpool to undergo a medical on Tuesday before completing a £26.5m switch to Anfield.
Torres, 23, could even be paraded as a Liverpool player as early as Wednesday after completing formalities.
Liverpool have agreed a club record deal with Atletico and BBC Sport understands the Spain striker will sign a six-year contract.
The Reds will then target Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze.
Villarreal's Diego Forlan has been lined up to replace the departing Torres in a £14.2m deal, while the Anfield club have recouped some of their outlay by agreeing to sell Luis Garcia to Atletico for £4.5m.
Once the Torres deal is done, Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will increase his efforts to seal a shock deal for 29-year-old Argentine Heinze.
It may prove complicated, however, with fierce rivals Liverpool and United notoriously reluctant to sell players to each other.
But it is understood the Merseysiders have been given enough encouragement from Heinze's camp to pursue their interest.
Liverpool officials are playing their cards close to their chest on the Torres deal, a move that shatters their previous club record, the £14m paid to Auxerre for Djibril Cisse three seasons ago.
But it now appears only the formalities remain after Torres cut short his holiday to return to Madrid to prepare to say an emotional farewell to Atletico's fans.
Torres has been consistently linked with a move to England, particularly with Arsenal and Chelsea, but Liverpool will now win the race.
Torres scored 14 league goals in 36 starts last season as Atletico finished seventh in La Liga.
Torres came up though the youth ranks at Atletico and has been their leading scorer in each of the last five seasons.he Spain international's Atletico contract runs until 2009.
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