Jurgen Klopp today admitted that it makes sense to send Sheyi Ojo out on loan, but reports from Neil Jones suggest we’ve actually put a price-tag on his head for a permanent exit.
The respected Goal correspondent writes that £15m will be enough to buy Ojo, who is being heavily courted by West Brom.
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“Liverpool will consider selling Sheyi Ojo before the transfer window closes, despite Jurgen Klopp’s assertion the club only wanted to send him on loan,” he writes.
However, the boss had earlier described Ojo’s talent as a ‘no brainer,’ suggesting he rates him so highly he wouldn’t be sold.
“Here it is a little bit difficult, especially for the offensive players,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “Ojo played a fantastic pre-season, really good and confident technically anyway, really strong, improved a lot in tactical things and his attitude was great.
“For me, he is a no-brainer, to be honest, and I think that will happen. It makes sense for him to go on loan. That’s how it is for a few of the others.
“It’s not that we can decide that [the timing]. Yes, I wish I had the final squad four weeks ago, all together. But that’s a business, we have to wait.”
This hints to us that any potential sale will include buy-back and sell-on clauses.
Liverpool inserted those into Jordon Ibe’s Bournemouth transfer back in 2016, and although the winger hasn’t yet fulfilled his talent, it shows an effort from the club to protect their initial investment in Academy starlets.
If Ojo doesn’t turn into a world-beater, we’re still £15m up, and if he does, we can simply buy him back for a pre-arranged fee.
This makes sense to us, as we can’t remember many young Liverpool players who’ve necessarily shone out on loan recently – bar perhaps Harry Wilson at Hull.