Liverpool’s Klopp made last gasp attempt to steal Valverde from Real Madrid

Fede Valverde turned the Santiago Bernabéu upside down when he decided to undertake an adventure that took him more than 50 meters up the Chamartín pitch, with the sole objective of saving his team from a potential loss at half-time. His museum-worthy goal against Mallorca will remain the Uruguayan’s great masterpiece ever since he pulled on the Real Madrid shirt (now having accumulated 154 games, adding eight goals and nine assists).

The 24-year old’s position in the hierarchy is no longer debated by anyone and Carlo Ancelotti has him tagged as key since the final stretch of last season, with him having prominence in the Champions League comebacks and a heavenly performance in the Paris final against Liverpool. It was crowned with his fabulous play down the flank that culminated in Vinicius’ goal that allowed him to lift big trophy 14th in Saint-Denis.

And the greats of European football, including that defeated finalist Liverpool, have been keeping a close eye on the brutal footballing evolution of the midfielder, who in a year has gone from ‘Pajarito’ (his nickname ‘Little Bird’ in his early years) to ‘Halcón’ (‘Falcon’) as he himself revealed that the current Uruguay coach, Diego Alonso, began calling him. His explosion has been of such caliber that, as we at AS have learned, in the final two days of this summer transfer window, on 31 August and 1 September, The Reds made a last gasp offensive to sign him. The Premier League giant’s interest reached such a point that they were willing to pay 100 million euros to convince Los Blancos’ chiefs. But Madrid did not even consider the operation, despite the fact that he would have become their second most expensive sale ever, only surpassed by the 117 million that Juventus paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.

Madrid refused to consider selling the Uruguayan because he is an “irreplaceable” player. In fact, and knowing that this could happen, the club extended the Uruguayan’s contract in August 2021 until 2027, despite the fact that at that time he still had a contract until 2025. A billion-euro release clause was inserted and Valverde was convinced that Madrid is, and will be, his home. The footballer also had no problem not even talking to Liverpool, given that Ancelotti had made it clear to him for a year that his ownership of a first team position is not in dispute, either playing on the right alongside Benzema and Vinicius in the attacking trident, or playing in the midfield, accompanying Kroos, Modric, Camavinga or another. Ancelotti explained it well after the win against Mallorca when they asked him about the Uruguayan Falcon.

“One is a leader when one does so by example. Fede is still very humble. Here there are many leaders by example and not with the voice, that is the important thing…”.

Consequently, Klopp was left wanting, aware that his midfield still needs a renovation. Fabinho, Keita, Henderson, Milner, Thiago, Oxlade-Chamberlain... do not give the German the lungs that Valverde provides for Madrid game after game. And that is priceless.

The 100-million bid confirms the valuation of the Uruguayan, but Madrid, after Casemiro left for Manchester United, didn’t even want to open dialogue about something that, in sporting terms, would have meant a blow to Ancelotti’s project. Valverde is staying at the club of his life until 2027, as he confessed when he arrived in the Spanish capital in the summer of 2016.