Real Madrid have turned down a British record transfer fee from Liverpool for Brazilian winger Rodrygo, according to reports.
There has already been a lot of change at Anfield in recent months with Jurgen Klopp leaving and taking a number of other staff members with him.
Arne Slot has arrived as the new head coach from Feyenoord with Richard Hughes also joining from Bournemouth as the new sporting director, while Michael Edwards has returned to Liverpool by becoming FSG’s CEO of football.
There have been recent reports claiming that the Reds are preparing for another substantial offer from Saudi Arabia for Mohamed Salah after they made a £150m offer for the Egypt international 12 months ago.
Liverpool were very firm that Salah wasn’t for sale last summer but it remains to be seen if they take the same stance with the 32-year-old gradually losing value over time.
And now reports in Spain claim that the Reds have made a €120m (£101m) bid – which would be a British transfer record – for Real Madrid attacker Rodrygo after previous stories have claimed he could be the ‘main victim’ of Kylian Mbappe’s arrival at the Bernabeu.
But Real Madrid have ‘declined the proposal’ from Liverpool after Chelsea and Manchester City also showed interest in taking the Brazilian to the Premier League.
The report added: ‘Real Madrid have made it clear that they have no intention of letting Rodrygo go, rejecting Liverpool’s offer despite its significant amount. This move underlines the importance of the Brazilian in the club’s long-term project. Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid, and the technical team highly value Rodrygo, seeing him as a key piece in the present and future of the team.’
Brazil legend Luiz Felipe Scolari recently insisted that Rodrygo doesn’t need to leave Real Madrid despite the arrival of Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain.
“I don’t think Rodrygo needs to leave, he just had to adapt to some circumstances during the games,” Scolari said.
“They are all great players and will make Madrid one of the biggest and most powerful clubs on the planet.”
Scolari added: “Ancelotti is pragmatic. There’s Rodrygo, there’s Vinicius, they have other great players and now Mbappe too. But the coach is fully prepared, as we know, to choose correctly and make the relevant changes. To try to adapt to this type of player and thus integrate them with the rest.
Speaking about interest from Liverpool and other Premier League clubs, Rodrygo responded: “This week some media said about bids, clubs, interest… I don’t know anything about it and I’m not interested. Even if there are proposals, I have no idea about that… I’m staying. I’m happy here. How can I leave Real Madrid?”
