Chelsea completed their expected deal for Christian Pulisic on Wednesday morning, agreeing to pay a reported £57.6m (per Sky Sports) to Borussia Dortmund for the American.
The move will naturally bring about questions to Liverpool, who have been reportedly interested in Pulisic for some time. Klopp’s first summer saw them offer £11 million, according to the Echo.
Jurgen Klopp admitted interest
Klopp usually adheres to the modern way of not talking about a target until he’s signed but Pulisic is one of the very few he has admitted an interest in.
Speaking in July, Sky Sports report the Liverpool boss as saying: “If – at one point – he [Pulisic] will join us, I don’t know.
“I like him, it’s not that that could be the problem, but we respect contracts still and there’s no market I know about at the moment. We did our business and Dortmund are doing theirs. All good.”
Liverpool decide against making Pulisic move
So why did Liverpool not make their move when the player was available?
James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo has explained the club’s had two reasons for ending any pursuit – and they’re about as good as you could ask for.
Liverpool reportedly decided that Pulisic wasn’t really needed anymore. The success of the regular front three, coupled with Xherdan Shaqiri’s arrival, has given Klopp what he’s looking for.
On top of that, his price had risen to a point where the club didn’t consider him value for money.
All things considered, those are really the two perfect reasons when deciding to back away from a transfer.
Bound for Stamford Bridge
It means that Klopp’s admitted liking for Pulisic counted for very little – something even the man himself believed as Pearce’s report claims ‘Klopp happily left the way clear for Chelsea to swoop’.
Thus it will be Maurizio Sarri nurturing the 20-year-old instead of Klopp. But no matter how Pulisic develops, this isn’t one that Liverpool will regret – it was simply never the right moment.
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