Jurgen Klopp closes in on a major summer signing as Liverpool hold talks to get the services of Alisson Becker, the goalkeeper from Brazil who is currently playing in Roma.
Football news: Roma has agreed to release the goalie for £66m fee
Goal confirms that the fee is said to have been agreed at around £66 million ($86m). The Reds have been holding talks with the Serie A side this whole week and have now received a green signal to go ahead and have a talk with the player for a possible move to Anfield.
If the transfer is fulfilled, Alisson would become the costliest goalkeeper in the history of the game. This would mean that Liverpool would break the record for both the expensive goalkeeper and defender purchase in seven months.
Jurgen Klopp wanted the strengthen the goalkeeping position long before Loris Karius’ publicised errors which happened in the Champions League final in May.
The 25-year-old is eager to join the Merseyside but may face challenges from Chelsea who are targeting a £70m move for Becker as the Blues are going to lose their goalie Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid.
The Reds have already added Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri to their squad in 2018 and Becker’s addition would give them a huge boost ahead of the season.
Liverpool will fly to the USA for a three-game pre-season tour, though Alisson would not join them there.
Klopp had targeted Alisson for a very long time after the present goalkeepers Karius, Simon Mignolet or Danny Ward failed to No. 1 shirt at Anfield.
Because of the mistakes in the Champions League final, it was thought that it would have a lasting effect on the confidence of Karius, which again re-intensified Liverpool’s efforts to recruit Alisson.
Roma would look not to make the same mistake, as they sold Mohamed Salah to Liverpool last season at a ridiculously low fee which proved to be costly.
Roma is also looking for a replacement and is eyeing Paris Saint-Germain's Alphonse Areola and AC Milan No. 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma, the latter leading the race.