Real Madrid reportedly join Liverpool in race to land €60m 22-year-old

Real Madrid have reportedly joined Liverpool in the race to land Sporting Lisbon attacking midfielder Pedro Goncalves in the summer.

According to Defensa Central, Real Madrid are now looking at Goncalves as a potential signing to bolster their squad in the summer.

Liverpool were linked with a move for Goncalves in January and reportedly made contact with Sporting, but the Portuguese club were unwilling to let him go midway through the campaign.

Goncalves has a release clause of €60m in his Sporting contract and it will be interesting to see whether or not they force clubs to pay that for him in the summer. Jurgen Klopp made it clear in January that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a telling impact on Liverpool’s financial situation, which could potentially prohibit them from making a big splash in the summer transfer window.

If that is the case then Liverpool may not be able to pursue a deal for Goncalves, unless the Portuguese club are willing to negotiate for a lower price. Real Madrid are seemingly in a dire position financial as it was recently revealed that they have a gross debt of over €900m. This suggests that they are also not in a position to go out and spend €60m on Goncalves release clause, which could actually come as a boost to Liverpool.

Sporting could see that Real and Liverpool are low on funds and lower their own valuation of Goncalves to make sure that they can maximise their own sales, as keeping hold of him could risk his stock dropping if he does not replicate his form next season.