Liverpool’s giant offer for Moises Caicedo was a ‘PR stunt’ to appease disappointed fans.
The Reds made a massive £111m bid for Caicedo in the middle of August, only to see the Ecuadorian dig his heels in and join Chelsea instead.
With Liverpool subsequently spending around £16m on Wataru Endo, some have questioned where that £100m or so difference has gone. And speaking live on Sky Sports News yesterday, former Reds defender Stephen Warnock offered a pessimistic view.
“I’m still not convinced that the money for Caicedo was there, I think that was a little bit of a PR stunt, knowing that Caicedo was going to Chelsea anyway,” said the pundit.
“It was basically a ‘we’ll keep the fans happy a little bit happy if we can by making that bid.'”
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Warnock offers Caicedo theory
Almost three weeks on, exactly what Liverpool’s strategy around Caicedo was is still unclear.
Having failed with a big bid, plenty of fans had – fairly – assumed that the Reds would be spending a decent amount on an alternative.
With around £60m also supposedly offered for Romeo Lavia, there does seem to be money there.
And yet, Liverpool have spent virtually none of that in the weeks since. Endo may well prove to be a good signing, but he was also, in Liverpool terms at least, a very, very cheap addition.
So, what exactly is going on here is a very fair question for Reds fans to ask.
To Warnock’s theory, it would be hard to see exactly how FSG, or whoever, would see this as good press for the club.
Not only were they publicly rejected by Caicedo, but it’s also led on to this very scenario. Fans know the money is there and yet they’re not spending it. They don’t come out of that looking very well at all. So, if this was indeed their intention, they need to get a new PR team!