Liverpool journalist James Pearce has been discussing the Merseyside club’s previous reported interest in Watford winger Ismaila Sarr.
This comes after Pearce recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s Headline Podcast to talk about Liverpool’s recent signing of Diogo Jota from fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After speaking about Jota, Pearce had this to say on the Reds’ interest in Sarr.
He said: “I think he was certainly very high up on Liverpool’s shortlist. The issue there was mainly around price. I know from the initial discussions that Liverpool had with Watford that despite them falling into the Championship, they were still demanding in excess of £40 million guaranteed, rising to in excess of £50 million with add-ons, which I think would have been a record sale for them.
“I think ultimately, they just decided that Sarr is just going to be too expensive and Jota just made a lot more sense.”
Watford signed Sarr back in the 2019 summer transfer window from French club Stade Rennais for a fee of £27 million. Since then, the winger has gone on to make 30 appearances for Watford in which he has managed to score six goals and provide six assists along the way.
The 22-year-old, who is currently valued at £22.05 million, made 28 appearances for Watford in their 2019/20 Premier League season, earning himself a season rating of 6.71/10 for his performances (per WhoScored).
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With Liverpool spending £41 million on Jota in a deal that could reportedly go up to £45 million with add-ons, it makes you wonder just exactly how much more money Sarr could have cost them if they decided to sign him instead of Jota.
Either way, with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah being Liverpool’s top two performers last season in the top-flight, it will likely be a challenge for Jota – or Sarr, if he were to have made a move to Anfield – to take either Salah or Mane’s place in the team.