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LONDON. — Liverpool are close to agreeing a deal with Wolves to sign the forward Diogo Jota after completing the transfer of Thiago Alcântara from Bayern Munich.

Wolves want about £40m for Jota and are exploring the possibility of taking the 18-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever in part-exchange.

The Dutch centre-back would be valued at about £10m.

Jota wants to join Liverpool and Nuno Espírito Santo’s preference is to allow players to leave if they no longer wish to be at Wolves.

He was left out of the squad for the Carabao Cup defeat by Stoke on Thursday and is expected to sign a contract at the Reds.

Thiago sealed his transfer yesterday on a four-year deal.

The Spain international, who was in the last year of his contract at Bayern, arrives for an initial £20m.

Jürgen Klopp insists the 29-year-old’s arrival will not “negatively impact” any player in his squad despite Georginio Wijnaldum being heavily linked to Barcelona.

Thiago told Liverpool’s website: “I think it’s an amazing feeling.

“I was waiting for this moment for a long time and I am very, very happy to be here.

“When the years are passing, you are trying to win as much as you can — and when you win, you want to win more.

“I think this club describes what I am as well; I want to achieve all of the goals, win as many trophies as possible… I will give my heart on the field to my teammates, the club and also to the fans.”

Earlier in the day Thiago had bid an emotional farewell to Bayern, saying he wanted a “new challenge”.

“I have made the most difficult decision of my sports career,” he said in a video posted on Twitter.

“I will close this chapter on this wonderful club where I have grown as a player for seven years. Triumphs, joy and also hard times.

“But, what I am most proud of is that I arrived in Munich as a young man filled with dreams and now I will leave completely fulfilled with a club, a history and a culture.

“My decision is purely of a sporting nature. As a soccer player I want new challenges to develop myself further.”

Liverpool face an early test against Chelsea this weekend as Manchester City and Manchester United launch their quest to be champions.

Arsenal, Everton and Leicester hope to build on encouraging opening wins while Jose Mourinho needs a morale-boosting victory for Tottenham.

Yesterday, Spurs were on the verge of signing Gareth Southgate.

Chelsea’s meeting with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge tomorrow has an added edge after a feisty exchange between the managers over transfer spending.

The challenge facing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ahead of a match against Crystal Palace is how to improve on last season’s third-place finish.

Midfielder Bruno Fernandes was the catalyst as United put together a long unbeaten run, with a front three of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood providing the firepower.

But United have been relatively quiet in the transfer window, so far adding just midfielder Donny van de Beek from Ajax, despite persistent speculation linking them with Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho.

“When we signed Bruno Fernandes, we knew we needed that kind of player — now we’ve signed Donny and he’s a type of player I felt we needed in the squad,” said Solskjaer.

Arsenal are buoyant after launching their season with a 3-0 win at newly promoted Fulham and tying down captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for three more years.

Mikel Arteta’s men, who host West Ham today, finished down in eighth place last season but ended their campaign on a high, winning the FA Cup for a record 14th time.

English Premiership Fixtures

Today: Everton v West Brom (1:30pm); Leeds v Fulham (4pm); Manchester United v Crystal Palace (6:30pm); Arsenal v West Ham (9pm).

Tomorrow: Southampton v Tottenham (1pm); Newcastle v Brighton (3pm); Chelsea v Liverpool (5:30pm); Leicester v Burnley (8pm).

Monday: Aston Villa v Sheffield United (7pm); Wolves v Manchester City (9:15pm).