Ronaldo gap opens as Liverpool eye up new Diogo Jota boost

Liverpool star, Diogo Jota, could be the man to take over the mantle for his nation from Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Liverpool made their move for Jota there was significant intrigue.

While those in and around Anfield had understood Jurgen Klopp to be an admirer of the Portuguese winger for some time, for some the £41m fee for a player who had been in and out of Wolves’ starting XI posed the question ‘why?’.

It hasn’t taken long to get an answer to that.

Eight goals in 13 games in all competitions, including a hat-trick at Atalanta in the Champions League at the start of November, have provided the stats to back up the move – but it goes deeper than just plain numbers.

The way that the Portuguese, still only 23, has managed to adapt seamlessly to Liverpool’s pressing and dynamism going forward has seen him manage to not only force his way into the conversation of around the fearsome trident of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, but actually turn that three into a four.

The fee for Jota raised some eyebrows, certainly in the middle of pandemic and the worst healthcare crisis in a century where clubs are having to be more wary when spending their money owing to the disappearance of some of their revenue streams.

read also:Man City v Liverpool: Klopp warned not to drop Jota after hat-trick

But, in a savvy move by the Reds and the man who has become the doyen of the transfer market, Michael Edwards, they were able to get a deal done for the Portuguese that would see them part with just £5m before the calendar year is out, meaning much of that £41m won’t show up in the next set of accounts due early next year.

For Wolves it was a good deal, affording them the security of payments across the next few seasons while enabling them to sell a player at a high watermark who, while hugely important, was arguably not talismanic for the Black Country side.

Liverpool’s desire to pay over a period of time means that how much they paid for Jota’s services has increased, and the Reds probably would have been successful with an up front deal of £35m or so. But even for the extra money paid it will still prove a shrewd investment.

Jota’s value will have already increased despite the rather stagnant nature of the transfer market during the pandemic, where volume has remained and money been spent but where the big numbers we might have expected have been a little more conservative.

When football moves past the current crisis, the market will likely return to crazy levels – despite what some have suggested otherwise – as TV companies regain confidence again and the big leagues command the big prices for coverage again.

Speaking to the ECHO, Professor Simon Shibli, a professor of sport management at Sheffield Hallam University and football finance expert, said: “Football is completely irrational.

“If someone wants something badly enough, no matter how illogical the decision seems, if they can push it through then they will.

“With interest rates at an historical low in a way it incentivises clubs to borrow which then means that the irrational becomes more possible. If you can borrow against the stadium, the land or the value of your playing squad and the banks are crazy enough to lend you the money then we will continue to see the top end of football defying the economy as a whole.

“For as long as I’ve been following football, probably 45 years now, you get these situations where you think that has to be the pinnacle reached and the only way is down.

“There has never been any end to it and as long as the money, egos and ambitions of the chairman are there then we are going to keep on seeing the irrational.”