Liverpool are now prepared to spend way above our estimation for players we seriously want…
If the Benteke deal taught us another thing, it was that the club has also changed its policy on the amount we’ll spend on certain players.
We’ve previously been pretty stubborn on sticking to our valuations for new signings – which is a good way of keeping prices reasonable – but our rivals have consistently showed strength in the market by splashing exaggerated cash on targets to get the deal quickly done.
We didn’t want to spend anywhere near £32.5m on the Belgian, and told Aston Villa halfway though July that we’d not be activating his release clause (via BBC Sport). But the Villans remained strong, and categorically told us they wouldn’t be selling unless they were forced to.
As a result, just ten days later on July 24, Benteke arrived at Anfield as our second most expensive ever signing, with release clause met.
In many ways it shows we want to compete with the big boys in the transfer window, although it does set a potential dangerous precedent for future dealings.
