Why Reds have HAD to get the prices right

EVEN before an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen had been reached over £116m Florian Wirtz, Liverpool were being subjected to the sniping of rivals.

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“That's the last of the Phillippe Coutinho money’ went the prod in the direction of the Premier League champions, with tongues firmly pressed into cheeks.

The inference being, of course, that the Reds have somehow pretended to stretch the £142m fee received from Barcelona over seven years ago in an effort to present a false reality of a club who don’t spend heavily in the transfer market.

For the avoidance of doubt, the sale of Coutinho in January 2018 did facilitate the arrivals of £75m Virgil van Dijk and £65m Alisson Becker, which quite neatly rounded up to a nice, even £140m and almost directly led to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool going from pretenders to contenders and then serial winners of every major trophy between the years 2019 and 2022.

In short, the departure of the Brazil playmaker was one of the greatest deals in modern football.

But, of course, Liverpool have not made a habit of such an extraordinary outlay that is being paid for Germany international Wirtz.