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Liverpool rivals round-up: Real Madrid is keen on a Manchester City marksman, while a star who once trained with the Reds is now set for contract talks.
Real Madrid could move for a Manchester City star next summer.Liverpool will undoubtedly have ambitions of taking the fight to Manchester City again this season.
It’s early days, but a win in the 12:30 kick-off next weekend would lift Jürgen Klopp’s side to the top of the Premier League, at least for a couple of hours.
Despite having a tricky fixture list to navigate, Liverpool has dropped just two points from its opening four games.
Unfortunately, Manchester City remains faultless, although it needed a late winner to squeeze past Sheffield United.
Naturally, the elephant in the room is that Liverpool is fighting against stacked odds.
Klopp has shown before that he can do exactly that, with only the German to thank for the fact Manchester City has not won the last six Premier League titles in a row, but the financial disparities at play should make Pep Guardiola’s side effectively invincible.
The arrival of Erling Haaland has only added to that impression, fostering a sense at times that rivals can do little more than wait for him and Guardiola to leave the division.
Buthaving won the fight once already, Klopp will believe in his side to upset the odds again — and he might get some help before too long in the form of transfer disruption from Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Arsenal is looking to cement its credentials as the new chief challenger to Manchester City.
But Mikel Arteta still has an important contact to sort out, and Liverpool might well be watching with interest.
Here, Liverpool.com takes a scan around the other big sides in the Premier League and around Europe to take a look at the news going on at the other clubs.
Real Madrid bid for Julián Álvarez ‘gaining traction’
Julián Álvarez suffered a tough debut season at Manchester City. Signed in January 2022, he was immediately loaned back to River Plate, and his first year at the Etihad coincided with Erling Haaland’s debut campaign.
That meant opportunities were limited. Álvarez made just 13 league starts.
However, the Argentine star has muscled his way in alongside Haaland at the start of the new campaign.
Helped by an injury to Kevin De Bruyne, he has actually played the full 90 minutes in each of Manchester City’s first four games.
Nevertheless, interest from Real Madrid is ‘gaining traction’, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes.
Especially if Kylian Mbappé does not make the move, Carlo Ancelotti’s side could push for the Manchester City striker.
The strip sees Liverpool wear purple for the first time since the 2018/19 season. Following on from the iconic Red and remake of a 1996/96 classic, the third kit features a purple ripple pattern with black sleeve cuffs, collarbone inserts, side panelling with matching shorts and purple rippple socks.
Liverpool.com says: Liverpool would rather see Haaland on the move than his new strike partner, although the presence of Álvarez does make it seem as though Guardiola is set up to continue more or less unfazed if and when the Norwegian departs.
Real Madrid would at least be removing one cog from the winning machine.
However, it all seems pretty hypothetical anyway. Real Madrid looks almost certain to finally get its hands on Mbappé next summer.
Meanwhile, the report also mentions Manchester City potentially going for Evan Ferguson, which would negate any benefit of Guardiola losing an attacking weapon.
Martin Ødegaard set for Arsenal contract talks
Arsenal has tied down a lot of its key stars recently, but there is one notable exception.
As things stand, Martin Ødegaard’s deal runs out in 2025.
That doesn’t bring a huge sense of urgency, but Arteta would certainly want a contract sorted before next summer, when Ødegaard would have just a year left to run on his deal.
According to Fabrizio Romano, fresh terms are now in the works.
Discussions are ‘ongoing’, with talks set to continue in the next ‘weeks and months’. Ødegaard has developed into a key player at the Emirates, where he is now the captain.
In doing so, he has made good on his wonderkid status. Liverpool coveted him as a teenager, and he even trained with the first team at Melwood (ECHO).
But he ultimately chose Real Madrid — before ending up at Arsenal after a series of loans.
