Liverpool have declined Manchester City's £30 million offer for forward Raheem Sterling, according to multiple reports.
Sterling's future at Anfield is uncertain after his agent said he would not be signing an extension to his current contract which expires in 2017.
But Liverpool this week rejected City's alleged offer of £25m, plus £5m in potential future payments, according to the Times, which also reported that Liverpool would not entertain offers under £50m.
Sterling has two years left on his Liverpool contract, though talks over an extension have reached an impasse, with the player's agent saying wages of £900,000 a week would not be enough to remain at Anfield.
In May, Liverpool also rejected an enquiry from rivals Manchester United for the 20-year-old.
Manager Brendan Rodgers also said last month he expected Sterling to remain at the club and, at that point, they were still planning talks before the end of the season to try to extend his stay -- even after his agent's comments threw a spanner in the works.
"Raheem has two years left and I expect him to see that two years through and continue to behave as immaculately as he has done," Rodgers said.
However, that did not prevent speculation about the England international's future growing and City's neighbours United were first to make their interest known.
Chelsea and Arsenal -- offering a return to Sterling's home city -- have also been linked while new Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez, who brought Sterling to Anfield when he was a 15-year-old at QPR, has also expressed his admiration for the forward.
Sterling made 35 Premier League appearances this season, scoring seven goals and managing as many assists.
Liverpool's rejection is unlikely to deter City, whose chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak on Wednesday promised "high-quality" signings this summer, or any of the other interested parties.
But if the Reds are to get close to their valuation they realistically need a bidding war to start.
Sterling has maintained throughout negotiations that his issue was not about money, stating in an April interview not sanctioned by the club, that he did not want to be viewed as a "money-grabbing 20-year-old."
Liverpool's sixth-place finish means they cannot offer him Champions League football next season, unlike all those interested in signing him, and a disjointed campaign on the pitch personally has not helped.
The forward enjoyed his best form as a left-sided attacker alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge the season before last in the Merseysiders' title near-miss but in the campaign just finished he found himself shunted between right wing-back, right wing, a number 10 and as a central striker.
Information from Press Association was used in this report.