Liverpool made the biggest effort to sign Bayern Munich defender David Alaba on a free transfer, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The Italian journalist said that, despite the Reds pulling out all the stops to secure the 28-year-old’s services, the centre-back had his heart set on a move to Real Madrid:

“There were many clubs interested in Alaba trying to hijack the deal, including Chelsea, PSG and others. The biggest bid came from Liverpool. Liverpool wanted Alaba. It was like the end of January [and] start of February, they were trying, pushing, to convince the player… He always had the dream of playing in Spain, in particular at Real Madrid.”

Alaba is believed to have agreed a €12m a season (£200,000 a week) contract to move to the Bernabeu in July, having seemingly knocked back a number of different teams.

Whether Liverpool genuinely needed a player like Alaba, it is up for debate. The Austrian can play in a number of different positions and his versatility would certainly have come in useful.

However, he has generally played as a centre-half over the past couple of seasons under Bayern boss Hansi Flick and, with Romano also claiming that the Reds are close to sealing the transfer of Ibrahima Konate, it seems the club have found an alternative who is younger and has greater potential.