Liverpool are reportedly edging closer to a deal for Porto captain Ruben Neves.
It was previously claimed that the Reds were in ‘pole-position’ to sign Neves and suggestions this week that the midfielder remains on Jurgen Klopp’s summer transfer list.
But Record claim that Anfield officials will be forced to meet the release clause in the Portugal international’s contract, which stands at £31 million.
Porto are keen to hold onto Neves with president Pinto da Costa revealing in October his plan to make the 19-year-old an icon at the Estadio do Dragao.
“I hope that he stays for many years at FC Porto,” he told ESPN.
“Ruben has a contract until 2019 and not until 2017, as I have sometimes seen written.
“We would like to keep him at the club, as a kind of Joao Pinto — he was a symbol of the club’s progress for generations.
“I never want him to leave FC Porto.”
Neves failed to make it into Portugal’s Euro 2016 squad which may work in Liverpool’s favour as his fee is unlikely to be inflated by the increased exposure in France.