Barcelona star Yamal costs Liverpool man ‘bargain’ transfer as Real Madrid move beckons

According to reports, Barcelona have decided they do not want to pursue a deal for Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold due to Lamine Yamal.

The Reds have made an excellent start to the new Premier League season with their 2-1 win over Brighton last weekend to take top spot, two points ahead of Manchester City, who lost their first game of the season to Bournemouth.

Arne Slot couldn’t have asked for a much better start as Jurgen Klopp’s successor, with the Dutchman winning eight of his first ten Premier League matches.

Slot has faced a lot of speculation surrounding three of his players, with Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk all out of contract at the end of the season.

Liverpool Captain Van Dijk recently said that he is in “conversations with the right people” but the future of Salah and Alexander-Arnold is less clear.

And now reports in Spain claim that Barcelona will not follow through on their interest in signing Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer’due to Yamal’s preferences.

It is explained that Jules Kounde’s ‘defensive solidity, combined with his ability to contribute in attack, has proven to be the ideal complement to Lamine Yamal on the right flank’.

Kounde gives the young Spain international ‘the freedom to showcase his attacking capabilities’ and the potential arrival of Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool ‘is not only seen as unnecessary, but a potentially damaging move for the young Lamine.’

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Yamal ‘seems to prefer to keep Kounde as his partner on the pitch’ and ‘therefore it seems less and less likely that Barça will sign Alexander-Arnold.’

And it appears Real Madrid are the clear favorites to sign the England international this summer and former Man United, Tottenham and Aston Villa scout Mick Brown insists Liverpool will already “know whether he’s going or not” at the end of the season.

Brown said Football insider: “Liverpool will know whether he goes or not. And if he goes permanently, they might feel like they can get some money for him in January and bite the bullet instead of letting him go for free.

“They don’t want to lose him because he’s an important player and a local boy and all that. But they have to be realistic, and if they’re going to lose him, why not make some money?

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them cut their losses and take what they can. That money can then be reinvested elsewhere if they want to strengthen the team.

“Liverpool are not awash with money like Chelsea for example, so if they can make good money from his sale it will be an interesting decision.”