When Real Madrid took on Mallorca at the weekend, they were stunned in the 35th minute by Vedat Muriqi’s headed opener. Los Blancos laboured for the next ten minutes hoping to level the scores and the equaliser finally came through Federico Valverde.

The Uruguayan International took matters into his own hands in the dying minutes of the first half as he dribbled across half the field, to the edge of the area, and fired a bullet past the opposition goalkeeper.

The midfielder is slowly growing into one of Real Madrid’s most dependable faces and has a big future ahead of him. Needless to say, the club wish to hold on to him for years to come. At the same time, though, it seems like Valverde is gaining admirers across Europe.

According to reports from AS, Liverpool were interested in signing Valverde in the last two days of the transfer window. The Merseyside team were willing to shell out €100 million for his services but Los Blancos firmly denied them as they had no interest in losing the Uruguayan.

The Premier League side desperately needed an extra body in midfield given their injury crisis and Valverde was one of the top names on their list. Eventually, they signed Arthur Melo from Juventus on a loan deal.

Valverde has been sensational for the men in white this season, scoring two goals and providing an assist in just five appearances. He averages two key passes and close to four defensive actions per ninety minutes.

He faces tough competition to start with Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos providing a similar profile. But, the fact that Carlo Ancelotti sees him as an option on the right-wing has meant that he has not been shy of regular game-time.