Liverpool and Roma agree record fee for Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson

 Alisson Becker.
Alisson Becker. Reuters

Liverpool's long-standing problems between the sticks may come to an end as the Premier League side have agreed to a fee of around £66.8m for Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

The Reds' initial bid of £62m was rejected by the Serie A side. However, sporting director Michael Edwards swiftly acted to meet Roma's demand of £66.8m, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Liverpool will now be holding talks with the Brazilian custodian, who was in fine form in the recently-concluded Fifa World Cup 2018.

If the move happens, Alisson will become the world's most expensive keeper as Liverpool's bid will exceed the previous best for a goalkeeper — Juventus had paid €53m to Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001.

Liverpool will also be able to break the Premier League record for a goalkeeper as Manchester City had paid €40m to Benfica for Ederson in 2017 summer transfer window.

Liverpool's goalkeeping woes

Jurgen Klopp's men had been looking out for a goalkeeper ever since Loris Karius' error-prone display during the Champions League final against Real Madrid in May.

The 25-year-old German custodian made two costly mistakes, including an embarrassing handling error, in the Reds' 3-1 defeat.

As recently as last week, Karius spilt a free-kick during their 3-2 win over Tranmere in a pre-season friendly.

Meanwhile, Chelsea may reply with their own offer to Alisson as they are heavily linked with the Brazilian shot-stopper amid rumours of Thibaut Courtois leaving Stamford Bridge along with Eden Hazard sooner than later.

Liverpool has already completed two transfers in the ongoing summer window. They had paid £43.7m for Fabinho from Monaco and landed Xherdan Shaqiri on a five-year deal from Stoke City after triggering the Switzerland star's release clause.

It is also believed that the Reds could reignite a move for World Cup-winning France forward Nabil Fekir after a proposed deal fell through in June.

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