With Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia joining Chelsea, Liverpool must reassess. Their two primary candidates for the No 6 role both rejected them for their Premier League rivals despite deals reportedly being agreed with Brighton and Southampton.
The Reds must now find their next best options. There are still players out there who improve Jurgen Klopp’s midfield. Klopp knows that without a new defensive-minded player in the middle, Liverpool’s top four ambitions rest solely on outscoring opponents.
A number of players had been linked before the surprise £111million Caicedo bid. They included Fulham’s Joao Palhinha, Florentino Luis of Benfica, Cheick Doucoure at Crystal Palace, Fluminense’s Andre Trindade and Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich.
For what Liverpool need right now, Doucoure might need to be their No 1 target. The 23-year-old Malian is the right profile and age. But he is not the right price in Liverpool’s eyes, and they have backed themselves into a corner with their British record Caicedo bid.
A club usually so good at the game of transfer poker have acted out of turn. Usually, their business is done in secret. It is only made public when everything is already done. But it has been very different with their temporary sporting director Jorg Schmadtke this summer.
Liverpool appear to have been effectively used by Caicedo’s entourage to gain leverage with Chelsea. They were led to believe they could sign him. Only to be told after bidding that the player wanted to see if Chelsea would match their bid.
Crystal Palace, who signed Doucoure from Lens for £21m 12 months ago, now know Liverpool have the funds to pay over £100m for a new No 6. Before that, the Reds had haggled Southampton over Lavia and refused to go above £46m. Some thought that was down to budget constraints.
What the world now knows is that it was instead because of Liverpool’s stubborn valuation. They definitely have the money to spend, having bid £65m for Caicedo than they were willing to for Lavia. After quoting £70m for Doucoure last month, Palace may be inclined to further increase that price in the knowledge of their Premier League rival’s finances.
