Florentino Perez comment opens door for Liverpool to sign £130m star instead of Alexander Isak

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez's comments on Liverpool may lead the Premier League champions to pursue a shock alternative to Alexander Isak.

The Reds had a £110 million bid rejected by Newcastle for striker Isak earlier in the window.

Since then, the 25-year-old has gone 'on strike', is currently training away from the first team and, on Tuesday, publicly accused Newcastle of 'breaking promises' - something the club deny - and demanded to leave via his Instagram story.

Amid all of those developments, Liverpool are yet to submit a second bid for Isak as the summer transfer deadline looms.

Manager Arne Slot has stated that he still wants to sign another attacker alongside Hugo Ekitike, who scored and assisted on his Premier League debut in Liverpool's 4-2 win over Bournemouth last Friday.

Isak is currently unavailable for selection by Newcastle (Image: Michelle Mercer/Newcastle United / Getty)

Spanish outlet Defensa Central are now reporting that Real star Vinicius Junior could be available for £130 million - less than the asking price of over £150 million that Newcastle are demanding for Isak.

Of course, the astronomical difference between Isak and Vinicius are the pair's wages, with the Los Blancos winger earning £350,000 per week at the Bernabeu.

Vinicius signed his last contract in 2022, so it would stand to reason that he would expect to earn an even larger sum with his next deal - especially after placing second in the Ballon d'Or voting last year.

But if they were to pursue a move for the Brazilian superstar, Liverpool may be encouraged by comments made by Florentino Perez following Real's signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Speaking in June, the Los Blancos president commented: "One of the best full-backs in world football [Trent]. He played for one of the most important clubs in the world, Liverpool.

"You join from a club we have a great relationship with, Liverpool. Today, your dream has come true."

Liverpool fans might think of one player in particular - Sergio Ramos - to contest Perez's claim that the two clubs have a 'great relationship', and transfer business between the clubs has been mostly one-sided over the years.

Alexander-Arnold, Steve McManaman and Michael Owen are among the players who have swapped Merseyside for the Bernabeu, with Real signing McManaman on a free and only paying £8 million for Owen, who was at the time one of the world's top strikers.

Liverpool signing Vinicius would no doubt stun world football - but their big-spending summer thus far perhaps doesn't completely count them out just yet.