Real Madrid to rival Liverpool for Goncalo Inacio

Real Madrid are now ready to rival Liverpool for Sporting defender Gonçalo Inácio, according to report. Demand for the player continues to increase.

This comes from Diario AS in Spain. They report that Real Madrid are now ready to enter the race for Sporting's Gonçalo Inácio - and that's a race that's getting a little fierce.

Inácio is one of the most promising young defenders around. He's already starring for Portugal despite only turning 22 in August and has somehow racked-up 135 senior appearances for Sporting.

That kind of quality and experience at 22 is hard to find. It gets better for watching clubs, though - Inácio has a release clause.

He signed a new contract this year to push the clause up but it still stands at 'just' £52m. Given the long-term potential in the Portuguese defender, teams could well see that as a bargain.

But Real will almost certainly face competition from the Reds for Inácio.

Anfield Watch understands that strengthening the defence will be a priority for Liverpool in 2024, with a left-sided centre back high on the agenda.

Recent reports suggest Liverpool have already sent scouts to watch Inácio this summer - as recently as the latest international break, in fact. He could well be the player they'd prefer to grab as they look to rebuild the defence.

However, there's an issue here and it's one Liverpool have already run into plenty. AS claim that Inácio would prefer a move to Real over any other club. This, of course, happened with both Aurélien Tchouaméni in 2022 and Jude Bellingham in 2023.

If this is all true and Real do hold an interest in Inácio, then Liverpool may have to prepare themselves with an alternative. That's just the way things have gone in recent years.

One to watch, then, and Inácio's future promises to be a hot topic in 2024. Liverpool will just hope this is a transfer race they can finally win over Real.