Noted transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has been discussing Liverpool and their interest in Leeds United forward Raphinha this past summer.
There were suggestions in the summer that Jürgen Klopp’s men had taken a serious interest in the Brazilian, with a tweet from Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari claiming that they were ‘leading the race’ for his signature ahead of the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City back in June.
The 24-year-old made a pretty impressive start to life in English football, scoring six goals and chipping in with nine assists for Marcelo Bielsa’s side last season, so it’s understandable why big teams would have been interested in him.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano appeared to confirm the club’s interest in signing Raphinha, but also discussed why the deal didn’t come to pass, noting that the fee that Leeds United were asking for was deemed too high for Liverpool to consider:
“They were thinking of Raphinha, Brazilian winger of Leeds, he’s doing great. But the price was impossible because Leeds decided to keep the player. They wanted him to stay as a key player for Marcelo Bielsa, and so it was impossible for Liverpool to sign him. So they wanted players they were 100% sure were perfect for the Liverpool project, present and future with a good price.
“With crazy prices, Liverpool are not going to sign players, and this was the strategy during the summer.”
TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s comments about Liverpool and Raphinha…
Is Raphinha good enough to get into Liverpool's best XI?
Yes
No
You can certainly understand why Liverpool might not have wanted to pay over the odds for someone like Raphinha, because even though his first season was impressive, there was always the chance he could have been a one-season wonder in the division, especially when you factor in how much the league was caught out by Leeds’ high-intensity style of play.
And whilst Liverpool will be without two of their main three forwards in the form of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah for the Africa Cup of Nations, thus making the need for a new forward important, they shouldn’t have gone over the top for someone whose impact might only have been needed initially for a few months.
So they were right not to overpay for someone like Raphinha this summer, but perhaps they can go in for him next time around when they’ll have had a better chance to look at him and truly assess his value.
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