Liverpool face new transfer reality under FSG as £85m deal confirmed
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Liverpool spent big last summer in the transfer window but now some of their rivals are starting to follow suitThe supposed best players on the planet continue to duke it out on the other side of the Atlantic to discover who can claim, at least for the next four years, to be champions of the world.Back in England, though, a rather different competition is taking place. Even if they are partly to blame for the ramping up of player values for Premier League clubs this year.That came from their splurge last summer, when they spent £116m on Florian Wirtz and then outdid that with the £125m deal to sign Alexander Isak.Yes, they brought in more than £200m in sales and eventual champions Arsenal notably had the greatest net spend of any Premier League club last term.But Liverpool's outlay of almost £450m was higher than any other club in Premier League history for a single window.
That's why, despite Curtis Jones having entered the final 12 months of his present deal, Liverpool want more than £30m for the midfielder having seen what other players of roughly the same age, standard and contract position have been sold for of late.However, it is not an unusual stance for any club to take. And given so many good but not great - at least not for the time being - players are now being moved on for astronomical fees, the base price for such targets is in danger of rocketing, making the signing of the very best increasingly prohibitive.Small wonder Paris Saint-Germain have taken one look at what's happening and slapped a nine-figure valuation on Bradley Barcola, while RB Leipzig were more than happy to resist Liverpool's £86m interest in Yan Diomande even before the Ivorian winger reportedly expressed a desire to move to PSG.Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group wear as a badge of honour their ability to eke out every last pound in the transfer window and make opportunistic signings through their knowledge base, such as triggering the £34.5m release clause to sign Spain international winger Victor Munoz from Osasuna last month.
They still need to: despite that big spend last summer, the Reds, for differing reasons, don't have the financial clout of some of their main domestic rivals.Liverpool are only just getting started in this summer's transfer window. But with some sizeable holes still to fill in Andoni Iraola's squad, the recruitment team are going to find it harder than ever to bring in top players that are much closer to the finished article than simple potential - perhaps going some what to explaining why they are prioritising targets with a younger age profile.Regardless, players have suddenly become a whole lot more expensive this window.