Liverpool is interested in signing Barcelona academy product Nico Gonzalez — and a huge chunk of the transfer fee would end up with the Catalan club.

Midfielder Gonzalez, 22, left Barcelona permanently to join Porto last year for $9 million, but Barca inserted a clause in the deal which means the Spanish club will receive 40 percent of the profit that Porto makes on any future transfer involving Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has a $62 million release clause in his deal at Porto, and if that is triggered, Barcelona will take a $21.2 million cut from the deal. Anfield Watch reports that Liverpool is considering paying that release clause after being impressed by Gonzalez's emergence as a key player for Porto.

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Gonzalez, who has lined up in all 15 of Porto's league games so far this season, is a box-to-box midfielder who can also play as a deep-lying playmaker. It is claimed that Liverpool remains interested in summer target Martin Zubimendi, who U-turned on a switch to Anfield in August by opting to stay at Real Sociedad, but that Zubimendi is not the only Spanish midfielder on the Reds' list of targets, with Gonzalez also wanted.

Liverpool scouts are reported to have attended multiple Porto matches this season, with Gonzalez repeatedly catching the eye. The youngster is contracted to Porto until 2028, while Barcelona has a buy-back option which is active until next summer that allows them to re-sign him for $31 million.

However, if Barca decides against taking Gonzalez back in 2025, any interested party will likely have to cough up the $62 million release clause, with Porto unsurprisingly keen to keep hold of the impressive midfielder.