
Liverpool
Premier League • England
Liverpool push button on signing of ‘priority’ Alexander-Arnold heir as Sky Sports reporter drops bombshell update

Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold and inset, Bayern Munich defender Joshua Kimmich
Liverpool are in what has been described as ‘direct contact’ with the entourage of Joshua Kimmich with the Bayern Munich defender seen as the perfect replacement for Real Madrid target Trent Alexander-Arnold and with a Sky Sports reporter revealing how much the Reds are willing to spend on his signing THIS MONTH.
The Reds continue to wait for definite news over the future of their vice-captain, who falls out of contract at the end of the season and is now eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club of his choosing. That hunt for Alexander-Arnold has been strongly led by Real Madrid, who have made no secret of their desire to prise him away from Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Spanish giants have also already seen an offer to sign Alexander-Arnold this month fail on New Year’s Eve and an update on their chances of increasing that offer emerged on Monday afternoon.
And while Liverpool still hope to tie the 26-year-old down to a new deal, the club has wisely started to do their due diligence on several prospective replacements.
Now according to Sky Sports reporter Sacha Tavolieri, Liverpool chiefs have now made their first move for Kimmich, after identifying the Bayern Munich star as their ‘priority’ target.
“In direct contact with Kimmich’s entourage, Liverpool have targeted Kimmich as the priority track in the event of the departure of their English right-back,” the Belgian reporter stated.
“His versatility is a quality highlighted within the Reds’ recruitment cell and Kimmich’s name also reassures American shareholders, worried about seeing one of their best defenders leave Merseyside.
“Free of any contract this summer, the English leaders could – like musical chairs – come here to recover a high-level right-back for a price defying all competition, as Real Madrid wants to do with Trent Alexander-Arnold.”
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While sources have confirmed to us that there is now a very real fear at Anfield that Alexander-Arnold could leave at the season’s end, Real are not yet ready to turn their back on the possibility of bringing him to the Bernabeu now.
Despite that, it has been underlined that a January exit to the LaLiga giants is highly unlikely with Liverpool likely to block his sale now and instead run the risk of losing him as a free agent at the season’s end. And with the player yet to commit either way on his future, the saga could yet be some weeks away from a concrete resolution.
In the meantime, Liverpool are wasting no time in nailing down that replacement in the form of Kimmich, with Tavolieri insisting sporting director Richard Hughes is actually hoping to persuade Bayern Munich to cash in this month.
“To do this, the Reds would even be ready to spend up to €25m (£21m, $25.6m) this winter to finalise the operation.
“Currently in direct contact with his representatives, Liverpool’s sports leaders want to first convince the man with ninety-seven selections with the Mannschaft before entering into negotiations with Bayern München in order to have the public support of Joshua Kimmich and therefore facilitate discussions with the Bavarians.”
There are some who may question the Kimmich signing, given the player is due to turn 30 in February and that his preference, per German sources, tends to be on playing as a holding midfielder. And while that versatility will certainly appeal to Arne Slot and Co, they may need to be upfront with their plans for the 97-times capped Bayern star if they have identified him as Alexander-Arnold’s heir should he depart.
Latest Liverpool transfer news: Opening Nunez bid ‘fails’; Tchouameni lift
Meanwhile, reports have claimed that Liverpool have rejected an opening bid worth £70m from Al-Hilal for striker Darwin Nunez.
And while Fabrizio Romano has revealed that talks over a swoop for the player from the Saudi Pro-League side have been held, Ben Jacobs has told us that a move to the Middle East is not currently an option with the player’s stance on leaving Anfield clear.
Elsewhere, the Reds have been boosted in their quest to sign Aurelien Tchouameni from Real Madrid amid claims that president Florentino Perez has listed the Frenchman as one of three high-profile players he is open to selling this summer.
But one man who won’t be moving to Anfield is Martin Zubimendi. The Reds came within a whisker of signing the Spain star last summer when they triggered his release clause from Real Sociedad, only for the player to pull the plug on the move at the 11th hour.
Now it has emerged on Tuesday lunchtime that a move to Arsenal has been agreed upon instead – with the timeline for the deal and the costs involved revealed by three really strong sources.
Kimmich vs Alexander-Arnold: their careers compared