Liverpool is paying €75 million ($87 million) to bring in Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, a move that would set a record for the highest fee ever paid for a keeper on the transfer market.
The price would easily surpass the €40 million ($46.4 million) paid by Manchester City paid to Portuguese club Benfica for Ederson during last summer’s transfer window.
Liverpool Seeks Upgrade After Karius Blunders
There have been questions about Liverpool’s goalkeeping situation for a while now, and those only intensified after Loris Karius made two major errors in the club’s 3-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Karius was absolved of some of the blame for those mistakes after it emerged that he suffered a concussion early in the match. But Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was forced to again defend his keeper after he struggled in a preseason friendly match against Tranmere, a club that currently plays in League Two, the fourth tier of English soccer.
Bringing in Alisson would undoubtedly solidify Liverpool between the posts. The Brazilian international showed his quality during the World Cup, playing in all five of Brazil’s matches and posting clean sheets in three of those games.
Liverpool has yet to confirm the details of the transfer bid, but Roma director of football Monchi – a former goalkeeper himself – has verified that Alisson is now in talks with Liverpool about signing for the English club.
Monchi has faced criticism about what the sale of one of Roma’s top players could mean for the club, but he rejects the idea that it means the team isn’t thinking big.
“Selling Alisson would not show a lack of ambition,” Monchi told reporters. “For me, ambition is about doing the right thing after thinking everything through. I came here to build a strong team, not just for one year but for many years to come.”
Roma has been very active in the transfer market this summer. They’ve signed midfielder Javier Pastore from Paris Saint-Germain, and brought in Ajax winger Justin Kluivert as well, while deciding to part ways with midfielder Radja Nainggolan.
European Goalkeeping Carousel
Should Alisson’s transfer go through, it could intensify the rapid movement of goalkeepers throughout Europe this offseason.
Real Madrid were initially expected to be the favorites to sign Alisson, but are now looking to bring in Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea instead. In turn, Chelsea will need a new keeper, and appear interested in going after Kasper Schmeichel, who currently plays for Leicester City.
And if all that happens, Leicester will need to sign someone to stand between the sticks. It appears now that they will target Liverpool’s Danny Ward, the Wales international who looked like he might potentially pass Karius on the depth chart before the Alisson signing.
Bringing in one of the world’s best goalkeepers would help Liverpool close the gap with Manchester City, the club considered the overwhelming favorite to win the 2018-2019 Premier League. William Hill still lists Manchester City as an 8/13 favorite to win the league, but Liverpool (9/2) is a strong second choice, ahead of Manchester United (7/1).