Liverpool have rejected an offer from Barcelona for their newly-appointed vice-captain Daniel Agger, the player's agent confirmed.

Barcelona are desperately looking to bring in a central defender this summer and have now turned their attentions to Agger, having seen a move for PSG stalwart Thiago Silva fail to materialize.

Barca have also been linked with a move for David Luiz of Chelsea, but the Blues are reportedly unwilling to sell the Brazilian international.

Agger has been previously linked with a move to the Camp Nou and this time a transfer could become a reality, with the Denmark international's agent suggesting his client would be interested in a switch to Spain.

"We are aware that Barcelona have made an offer for Daniel that Liverpool have rejected," Agger's agent Per Steffensen said.

"Daniel has a contract with Liverpool for the next three years and it would be up to the clubs to agree a fee for his transfer in order for that to change."

Losing Agger would be a big blow to Brendan Rodgers, who has his hands full already with the Luis Suarez transfer saga.

Agger was not a part of Liverpool's final preseason game against Celtic last weekend, leading to suggestions the central defender could be on the move.

However, Rodgers explained the reasons behind Agger's absence.

"The two things with Daniel were that obviously he had some fluid in his knee after Steven's testimonial game," he said.

"He had to get that taken out so he hasn't trained for the week.

"The only other development was that we named him as vice-captain. There's nothing in terms of Barcelona!

"He's a top player who really wants to work at the club and I'm really looking forward to him in his new role."

The major positive from the 1-0 loss to Celtic was the return of Daniel Sturridge from injury, with the forward making an immediate impact after coming on in the second half.

"I thought he was excellent," Rodgers added. "You saw the difference when he came on in the second half - that power and pace, and his link-up play with (Philippe) Coutinho was great.

"He's working really hard to get fit and he's looked really strong in training this week.

"He got 45 minutes today and we've got a behind-closed-doors game in the early part of the week. We can assess him after that but he looked really good."