Real Madrid Interest & Roma UCL Progress Dents Liverpool Hopes of Signing Alisson

Liverpool's hopes of signing Roma goalkeeper Alisson seem to be getting smaller and smaller by the minute, with this past week causing all sorts of problems for the Reds in their pursuit of the Brazilian stopper.

Alisson has been in immaculate form this term, and has earned himself all the plaudits for some fine performances between the sticks over in Serie A. However, unfortunately in Liverpool's case, that means added interest.

While there aren't too many teams around Europe with a bigger pull factor than the Anfield outfit offer, Real Madrid is certainly one of them. It appears that Zinedine Zidane is looking at signing Alisson due to Manchester United's refusal to give Los Blancos David de Gea - and their interest seems to be turning his head:

“Real Madrid’s interest in me makes me happy, I won’t deny that,” Alisson said, via the Mirror. “I’m very happy when a club speaks well of me, it means I’m doing well and that they’re following me. Imagine when a club like Real Madrid does that… but for now I’m focused on Roma.”

Another problem coming Liverpool's way is the transfer fee that Alisson would command - and that fee got stumped up when Roma qualified for the Champions League quarter finals.

Liverpool were under the impression that Roma would be forced to sell the keeper on the cheap in a bid to comply with financial fair play. However, according to Gazetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), their progression in the Champions League makes this problem less drastic - with each round they survive offering more and more money.

Thus, it could be that even if Alisson wanted to move to Merseyside, the Reds would be forced to cough up a lot of cash.

Jurgen Klopp will be praying for another Lionel Messi masterclass in the next round of fixtures...