Liverpool were happy to pay a near-record transfer fee for Jadon Sancho last summer.
That’s according to journalist David Lynch. Writing for The National, Lynch claims that Sancho had two ‘major admirers’ at Liverpool in Jurgen Klopp and assistant Pep Lijnders.
He also suggests that FSG were ‘more than happy’ to pay Borussia Dortmund’s £73m asking price for the then 21-year-old.
However, once the forward’s expected salary became clear, Liverpool’s interest was reportedly ‘scuppered.’ Manchester United swooped in and Liverpool couldn’t, or wouldn’t, compete.
Lynch claims that had Sancho been willing to accept half his £270k-a-week deal, he would have been a Liverpool player.
Sancho fails to ignite
You have to wonder whether Sancho is happy with his decision to move to United over Liverpool.
After his long-awaited return to English football, he had a disappointing first season in the Premier League. His goal contributions dropped from a three-season average of 26 at Dortmund, to just six last season.
United looked a shell of a club throughout the year and eventually finished outside the Champions League places.
Liverpool, by contrast, were electric. Sancho could have learned the ropes from Sadio Mane for a year before taking over his favoured left-sided spot ready for the 2022/23 season. What could have been.
Liverpool land their man after all
Although Sancho may be rueing his choice a year ago, Liverpool have swiftly moved on,
There is a man taking over Mane’s favoured left-sided slot after all – the effervescent Luis Diaz. Had Liverpool signed Sancho, there’s no way that they’d have gone in for the Colombian as well.
As a result, Liverpool will be delighted with the way things panned out.
Perhaps Sancho would have had a similar impact to Diaz at Anfield. BBC pundit Jonathan Woodgate certainly thinks so. The former England defender told Match of the Day 2 in February that the United winger would have been ‘unbelievable’ at Liverpool.
Woodgate’s probably right. Sancho has all the tools to succeed as part of a Klopp attack. But so does Diaz, and at a cheaper fee, and cheaper wages, Liverpool came out of this one in even better shape.
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