Liverpool Gunning For This €90m Real Madrid Star: Do The Reds Need Him?

Liverpool’s summer rebuild could take an eye-catching turn if the club heed Spanish reports linking them with a €90 million swoop for Real Madrid’s 20-year-old prodigy Arda Guler. According to Fichajes, the Reds have placed the Turkish international on a shortlist of attacking reinforcements and are monitoring his progress closely ahead of the close season.

The story gains extra traction from the growing belief inside Anfield that club icon Xabi Alonso is the preferred candidate to succeed in the dugout. Sources indicate that Alonso, who has been touted as the front-runner for the managerial role, has already earmarked Guler as a cornerstone of the new project he would oversee at Merseyside.

Versatility is central to Guler’s appeal. Capable of operating as a traditional No. 10 or drifting wide to either flank, the Madrid attacker has supplied three goals and twelve assists across all competitions this season while also catching the eye for Turkey on the international stage. Liverpool chiefs believe his technical quality and eye for a pass would inject fresh creativity into a forward line that is set for an overhaul once the campaign concludes.

Yet the numbers are sobering. Real Madrid value the youngster at €90 million, a valuation that forces Liverpool into a wider strategic reckoning. Sitting sixth in the Premier League as of late February 2026 and conceding goals at an alarming rate, the club’s most urgent fractures lie at the opposite end of the pitch. A depleted defensive unit has struggled all winter, and the holding-midfield role lacks the physical ball-winner deemed essential to shield a vulnerable back four.

With Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister already entrusted to orchestrate play between the lines, splurging nine-figure sum on another advanced midfielder risks compounding an imbalance that has undermined results since the turn of the year. Club insiders concede that a commanding centre-back and a destructive midfielder are the priority slots if Liverpool are to claw back ground on the league’s pacesetters.

The dilemma crystallises the fork in the road now facing the Anfield hierarchy. Pursuing a marquee talent like Guler would thrill supporters and signal lofty ambition, but it could also divert scarce resources from the defensive spine the squad desperately lacks. As the Reds map out their transfer strategy, the question is less whether Guler is a special talent—consensus across Europe says he is—but whether a luxury purchase makes sense before foundational cracks are sealed.

For now, Liverpool’s interest is real, the price is prohibitive, and the clock is ticking on a decision that may shape the club’s trajectory well beyond next season.