Real Madrid want £85m+ for ‘untouchable’ star in Klopp’s sights for Liverpool – report
According to reports from Spain, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is believed to have Federico Valverde in his sights at Anfield, but the Real Madrid midfielder certainly won’t come cheap.
El Nacional have claimed that the Uruguayan could be jettisoned by the LaLiga giants, amid the imminent arrival of Jude Bellingham and a loss of form since returning from the World Cup.
The Reds are already believed to have told Los Blancos that they’d be interested in signing the 24-year-old for an initial €60m (£51.5m), while also communicating a willingness to bid €80m (£68.7m) up front plus €20m (£17.2m) in add-ons.
However, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has insisted that the 14-time champions of Europe won’t entertain any offers of less than €100m (£85.9m) straight.
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In all honesty, reports of Liverpool potentially signing Valverde could be taken with a pinch of salt, particularly for the figures being quoted.
The amount that Perez is reportedly seeking for the Uruguayan is only slightly less than the £88.5m that Real Madrid are set to pay initially for Bellingham (The Guardian), a player with whom the Reds had been strongly linked until ending their interest due to the extortionate sums involved.
In a similar vein, Fabrizio Romano told CaughtOffside that the Anfield club ‘won’t do anything crazy’ regarding Josko Gvardiol, for whom RB Leipzig apparently want at least £85m (Daily Express).
Despite his supposed decline in form over the past few months, Valverde would still be a splendid player for Liverpool to have.
His manager Carlo Ancelotti dubbed him an ‘untouchable‘ presence in Real Madrid’s team, while he features among the top 20% of midfielders in Europe for a wide range of key performance metrics over the past 12 months (FBref).
We’d certainly welcome any possibility of the 24-year-old weaving his magic at Anfield, but in reality this transfer rumours seems most unlikely to amount to anything tangible, particularly given Perez’s reported demands for the player.
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