Liverpool closing in on the £8.5m signing of 18-year-old right-back Calvin Ramsay from Aberdeen

Liverpool are understood to be nearing the signing of Aberdeen right-back Calvin Ramsay.

The Reds have been seeking a bona fide back-up to Trent Alexander-Arnold for some time and they appear to have found their man in the highly-rated 18-year-old.

According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Aberdeen are holding out for a fee of around £8.5m with add-ons, but the Reds are not likely to view that figure as insurmountable.

Romano wrote on Twitter: “Liverpool are set to reach an agreement with Calvin Ramsay on personal terms – they made an official bid to Aberdeen for the Scottish full-back.

“Club confident on agreement between clubs – but Aberdeen want around €10m (£8.5m) with add-ons included. Talks ongoing.”

Wherever the fee lands it will likely be the biggest Aberdeen have ever received for a player, with Scott McKenna’s £2.9m move to Nottingham Forest in 2020 their previous highest, according to Transfermarkt.

And there is a reason for it with Ramsay’s potential having been obvious over the last couple of years, and the youngster being tracked by the likes of Manchester United and Spurs.

Ramsay is believed to prefer a move to Anfield though, and he will have a body of work to emulate by looking across to the other flank at fellow Scot Andy Robertson.

Robertson arrived for a similar fee – £8m – five years ago and though he was older at 23, he still needed to usurp Alberto Moreno and nail down his place in the first team, which he has done spectacularly well.

Getting ahead of Alexander-Arnold will be a different kettle of fish for Ramsay, but there can be few better right-backs to learn his craft from.

Ramsay would be Liverpool’s second signing of the summer after forward Fabio Carvalho, and there could be another on the way in the form of Darwin Nunez.

On Sunday, Reds sporting director Julian Ward flew into Portugal to meet the club’s potential new forward face-to-face, with his rumoured £68m signing getting closer by the day.