Liverpool were ready to give 24-year-old midfielder a huge salary, but he didn’t want to join them

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Liverpool were happy to match Manchester United’s offer of £200k-a-week to convince Mason Mount to join them.

Mount has today completed a move to United, having reportedly been a target for Liverpool earlier in the window. Whilst confirming that the Reds did indeed want the 24-year-old, The Athletic provide some more details on the inner workings of the transfer.

They claim that Liverpool ‘held talks’ with Mount and his agents as they tried to convince him of a move to Anfield.

During those talks, it’s reported that the Reds put forward an offer ‘in the ballpark’ of £200k-a-week rising to £250k-a-week with bonuses. This is said to be a virtually identical package to the one on offer at Old Trafford.

Interestingly, it’s also reportedly a similar salary that was on the table at his former club, Chelsea.

In the end though, Mount opted to sign for United. The club’s participation in next season’s Champions League is presented as being a ‘factor’ in his decision.

Liverpool miss out on Mount

It’s finally official then, Liverpool won’t be signing Mason Mount. Not now – and judging by Liverpool and United’s transfer history – not ever.

For many fans, that won’t be a problem at all. When it looked like the Reds might actually sign the England international, plenty of supporters were split. Now that he’s gone to the old enemy, there’s unlikely to be any tears shed.

Nevertheless, it’s still a shame to hear of a player snubbing Liverpool for United.

If certainly softens the blow that the Reds have just paid RB Leipzig £60m to sign Dominik Szoboszlai. But given that that’s the same fee Mount has left Chelsea for, you’d have thought Liverpool would have stumped up for him, too.

As a result, it seems as though the only reason Mount isn’t now a Reds player is because he preferred to join United. And as a consequence of that, we can only say ‘good riddance.’ As Jurgen Klopp alluded to when Cody Gakpo joined in January, he wants players who will ‘push the train, not jump aboard it.’ If playing Champions League football is a deal-breaker, then we’re not interested.

For comparison, here’s what Szoboszlai said when asked about not playing in Europe’s top competition next season:

“I can accept that I won’t be able to play in [the Champions League] for a year and the goal is to win the Europa League,” he said via Liverpool Echo.

“Liverpool are competing in four competitions and I want to help them win as many of them as possible. When I heard there was a lot of interest, I didn’t think about the Champions League. Rather, it is about winning the Europa League with Liverpool.”

Now that’s a player we want.