Last 24 hours: Liverpool dealt crushing transfer blow after huge behind-the-scenes development

Liverpool have given up on attempting to sign Barcelona prodigy Gavi in the summer transfer window, according to a fresh report.

The Reds will hopefully have a productive summer ahead of them as Jurgen Klopp looks to further build upon the excellent squad alerady at his disposal.

One player with whom Liverpool have been linked is Gavi, with the 17-year-old considered one of the most exciting young talents in world football.

The Spaniard has already made 46 appearances for Barcelona despite his tender years, with his manager Xavi describing him as a ‘spectacular’ player, and on Sunday he became his country’s youngest-ever goalscorer when netting against Czech Republic.

It looks as though that transfer is now dead in the water, though, with Sport reporting on Monday morning [via Sport Witness] that Liverpool now ‘give up’ on signing him.

The Reds are the one club who have been ‘most aware’ of the teenager’s potential availability and ‘would have paid’ his buyout clause, but he now looks set to stay put at Camp Nou.

The report claimed that Gavi is close to signing a new contract at Barcelona, with a final meeting scheduled between his entourage and the club this week which would see his release clause skyrocket from €50m (£42.7m) to an incomprehensible €1bn (£853.8m).

In truth, this was a transfer which always felt like more a pipe dream than a reality, with Barcelona absolutely desperate to keep hold of such a prized asset.

La Masia graduates also generally stay loyal to the club – the likes of long-serving Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets are all proof of that – which is a further reason for Gavi remaining with the Catalan giants.

It would have been special to see him plying his trade at Liverpool,