Liverpool's £55m deal for Takefusa Kubo could help fund Real Madrid's own move for Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool’s pursuit of Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo could end up funding Real Madrid’s move for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

On Monday, it emerged that Liverpool were targeting Sociedad’s Japanese international winger Kubo, who reportedly has a release clause of €60 million.

It has been said that Liverpool are closing in on the deal to sign the 23-year-old with “negotiations are already in the final stages”.

However, if Liverpool do manage to seal a deal to sign Kubo, they could be helping Madrid raise funds to sign Alexander-Arnold.

Last week, it was reported that Los Blancos have made contact with Alexander-Arnold.

SPORTBILD’s Christain Falk wrote on social media: “Real Madrid is getting concret with Trent Alexander-Arnold (25).

“Arnold has contract til 2025, no contract extension at Liverpool yet. The Player is interested, there is contact since month.”

Back in 2022, Kubo joined Sociedad from Madrid in a deal worth a reported fee of €6 million.

However, as reported by The Athletic, the Basque club paid for 50 per cent of Kubo’s rights.

This means that Madrid can either buy the Japanese back for 50 per cent of the price they sold him for or will get half of the profit Sociedad make if they manage to sell Kubo.

With that, Liverpool paying for Kubo could mean Madrid get extra cash in their bid to lure Alexander-Arnold away from Anfield.

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Liverpool were beaten by Preston North End in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the AXA Training Centre.

After the match, Arne Slot said: “After two weeks of tough training sessions it’s important to play a game as well. The most important thing is that everybody was fit before the game and they stayed fit during the game as well.

“So, it’s been a good two weeks. Unfortunately, the result today was not what we wanted, but they stayed fit, many of them got minutes [and] also a lot of young players got a few minutes so that was a good thing.”