Klopp splashes out! Thiago arrives at Anfield, now for £45m Jota
Klopp spends£70m this week with Hoever set to join Wolves Ancelotti claims Anfield move for midfielder ‘breaks my heart’
Liverpool are to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Diogo Jota in a deal worth up to £45 million.
Jurgen Klopp was celebrating a spectacular week in the transfer market after the champions’ spending commitment rose to a potential £70 million in the space of 24 hours as Jota prepared to join Thiago Alcantara at Anfield.
Portugal international Jota will join for an initial £41 million, with the figure potentially rising with add-ons.
Thiago completed his £20 million switch yesterday. Liverpool committed to paying Bayern Munich a further £5 million based on Champions League and Premier League success.
No sooner had Thiago been unveiled, the club’s sporting director, Michael Edwards, was concluding talks with Wolves on two fronts.
Teenage defender Ki-jana Hoever is heading in the opposite direction to Jota for £13.5 million. That comprises an initial £9 million, with Liverpool securing a 15 per cent sell-on as part of the deal.
Jota is to sign a five-year-contract having been monitored by the club’s scouts for the past two seasons, with Liverpool first registering an interest when buying Fabinho through the same Jorge Mendes Gestifute agency in 2018.
Liverpool had a shortlist of three strikers this summer, which also included Ismaila Sarr, but talks with Watford broke down after they expected a fee in excess of the £40 million they received for Richarlison.
With Liverpool already in talks over the switch of the 18-year-old Hoever, they were able to reach an agreement for the striker they say was always their preferred option.
Jota’s future had been shrouded in mystery after he was left out of Wolves’ first two games of the season. Now it is clear why.
He fits the bill as the perfect addition to Klopp’s attack as he is versatile enough to play across the front three. That means Klopp will be in a position to ease the burden on Roberto Firmino as well as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Jota initially moved on loan from Atletico Madrid when Wolves were in the Championship, before a permanent transfer in January 2018. He has scored 16 league goals since Wolves’s promotion to the Premier League, establishing a formidable attacking partnership with Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore.
In the Europa League last season, he scored hat-tricks in consecutive games, including a treble against Besiktas in just 11 minutes. Wolves have already sold Matt Doherty to Tottenham for £15 million and the departure of Jota will be viewed as another blow to Nuno Espirito Santo’s ambitions this season. Wolves have already broken their transfer ransfer record this month with the £35 35 million capture of Fabio Silva and nd it is understood that a replacement ent will be found for Jota.
Securing Hoever is a coup up for Nuno, however, as both Juventus ventus and Atletico had contacted Liverpool for his signature. He will undergo a medical this weekend. d.
Liverpool were reluctant to let the former Ajax trainee go, but he had only two years left on his deal and felt his pathway to the he first team was blocked by the emergence of Neco Williams, who ho just signed a five-year deal.
Hoever has made only y four appearances for Liverpool’s s firstteam squad and was the club’s youngest ever player when en he made his debut against Wolves lves in the FA Cup as a 16-year-old.
Wolves usually play with a backthree and Hoever can operate e as either a right-back or as a central defender, so his versatility is seen as a huge advantage.
Meanwhile, Thiago’s signing ng was confirmed with the greatest est endorsement from Everton manager anager Carlo Ancelotti, who managed ged the midfielder at Bayern Munich.
“This signing breaks my heart. eart. It breaks my heart,” said Ancelotti. celotti. “He is a fantastic player. I had ad luck in my career to train top, top p players and Thiago is one of them. m. The only good thing about this signing is that he is a neighbour. He e chose the wrong team. He could choose the blue team, not the red. I am jokam joking. Jurgen, will be happy.”