Liverpool seem to have traded places with Brighton and Hove Albion of late with the club picking up the mantle the Reds have dropped both on and off the pitch.
The Seagulls’ recruitment has seen them land high-potential stars of the likes of Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella on the cheap before selling them on for sizeable checks down the line.
Moises Caicedo is the latest bit of smart business by the South Coast-based outfit, leaving the Merseysiders scratching their heads during internal discussions over their apparent mishap in the market.
“Clearly, he is a player destined to play at the top level,” Neil Jones wrote for GOAL.
“Liverpool are admirers, and there have been discussions internally at Anfield as to why the club were not all over him when he left Ecuador two years ago.
“Indeed, Caicedo looks as if he will have his pick of clubs in the summer, when he will have two years left on his contract and when Brighton will look to cash in as they have done successfully in the past with the likes of Bissouma, Ben White, Leandro Trossard and Marc Cucurella.”
With a valuation set at around the £100m mark, it’s an oversight that will no doubt cost Jurgen Klopp’s men a great deal to fix, which is far from being ideal given the expense that will accompany a move for Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham.
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Unless we’re either prepared to sell a top star or can get a new owner in before the summer window, it seems highly unlikely that we’ll be able to afford both the England international and Caicedo in the same window.
Whilst it’s positive to see Liverpool throwing their weight about in the market and committing the big bucks, as they say, to top talent, there was a time when the Michael Edwards-led recruitment team was responsible for snapping up rough diamonds on the cheap for Klopp to mould into world-beaters.
As ludicrous as the market can be at times, we find it hard to believe that similar deals to the £8m and £25m moves that took Andy Robertson and Gini Wijnaldum respectively to Anfield aren’t available at all.
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