Liverpool chiefs may have real regrets over one failed transfer pursuit in recent weeks, juding by information stemming from reports out of France.
On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Willian Pacho from Eintracht Frankfurt in a €45m (£38.5m) deal, but it wasn’t for the want of trying from the Reds’ recruitment team.
According to Le10 Sport, LFC had submitted an offer to the Bundesliga side which was actually higher than PSG’s, but having already given their word to the Ligue 1 champions, the hierarchy at Deutsche Bank Park weren’t for turning.
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From these reports, it seems that Liverpool simply left it too late to put money on the table for Pacho, with PSG having beaten them to the punch and Eintracht Frankfurt honouring their agreement with the Parisian outfit.
The 21-year-old would’ve given Arne Slot the predominantly left-footed centre-back option that he lacks in his current squad, while also boasting experience in the Bundesliga and European competition and still having the bulk of his career ahead of him.
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If the Reds had offered around £40m (possibly more) for the Ecuadorian, then they were clearly interested in bringing him to Anfield but just weren’t proactive enough, only making their move after learning that the Ligue 1 champions were in the box seat.
It’ll be a sore one to take for Richard Hughes, but with just 18 days remaining in the transfer window, there isn’t any time for wallowing in self-pity.
Instead, Liverpool need to learn from this near-miss and show more initiative when they identify a player who they truly want to add to Slot’s squad, particuarly with the clock ticking ominously toward the 30 August deadline.
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