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Liverpool transfer news: Alisson agreed to join Reds BEFORE World Cup campaign
LIVERPOOL goalkeeper Alisson had agreed to join the club BEFORE the World Cup.
The former Roma stopper had been at the centre of a three-way transfer saga between the Reds, Real Madrid and Chelsea all summer.
But Alisson eventually ended speculation surrounding his future on Thursday, completing his £66.8m move to Liverpool.
But according to reports in Brazil, the 25-year-old had already made up his mind months ago.
UOL Esporte claim Alisson had agreed terms with Liverpool before he jetted off to Russia with his Brazilian team-mates last month.
The report suggests the player was simply waiting for Roma and the Merseyside outfit to agree the terms of his big-money move.
Once a fee had been agreed between the two sides, Alisson's switch happened relatively quickly due to personal terms already being ironed out.
The former Internacional No 1 joins on a six-year deal as the most expensive goalkeeper in world football.
And Jurgen Klopp is clearly excited about his new arrival.
"At one point in the last few weeks it came up, the opportunity to sign one of the world's best goalkeepers," he said.
"The owners were quite excited, so we did it.
We got him here because of his existing strengths
"He has nothing to do with the price, we have nothing to do with the price.
"It's the market, that's how it is and we will not think a lot about it.
"He needs to adapt to the English Premier League. The league is different, the refs are different, the goalkeeper's life is different in the Premier League.
"We got him here because of his existing strengths, which is in all goalkeeper departments the highest level."