Real Madrid are now back in talks with Liverpool about an early release for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Real, who want the defender to play for them at the Club World Cup which begins on June 15, have to pay Liverpool if they want to sign him before his contract expires on June 30.
Liverpool are under no obligation to release Alexander-Arnold before the end of June and Real will not be able to get the player early by simply offering to take him off the Reds' June wage bill.
The Spanish side made initial contact with Liverpool about an early release within hours of Alexander-Arnold announcing earlier this month that he would be leaving.
Real were told that a fee must be paid and they have now returned to the negotiating table.
'Alexander-Arnold could still join Real for Club World Cup knockouts'
Sky Sports' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"If you get to the latter stages of the Club World Cup and even win it, you're going to probably make an extra £100m. And in this era of financial fair play, PSR, that is really important.
"So, Liverpool can turn around and say, 'Look, you've got to make us an offer'. I think what Real Madrid would say is, your season ends at the end of May, you're going to be paying him in June for doing nothing. If you allow him to come to us, you will be saving the wages you would be paying. Maybe that is Real Madrid's line of attack when it comes to dealing with Liverpool.
"The other point to make is, even if he's not released in time to play in the early stages of the Club World Cup, because Real Madrid have got three group games between June 18 and June 27, he could join mid-tournament to play in the knockout stages.
"FIFA has been very, very clever, they have introduced this mid-tournament registration period. So, during the tournament, after the group stages, you can add players to your squad.
"And by then, Trent Alexander-Arnold on the 30th would be a free agent, so they could sign him up and then ring FIFA and say, can you add him to our squad list for the Club World Cup as well?"
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