Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool doesn’t usually spend blindly, as the Reds’ refusal to pursue deals for Philippe Coutinho and Jadon Sancho in 2020 made quite evident.

The Reds manager often prefers a player he can develop into a star that costs less than a ready-made one, although they have spent when necessary, such as when they signed Virgil van Dijk and Alisson. This reasoning led to Liverpool turning down a 2020 bid for Jadon Sancho.

Even though Sancho was by no means a celebrity at the time, his price tag was rising along with his stock. With Borussia Dortmund, he was dominating the Bundesliga, and it soon became apparent that he was meant for greater things than Signal Iduna Park.

Consequently, his signature was associated with several clubs. At one point, Sancho was being linked to Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain, but nothing came of it that year.

Liverpool showed no concern at all. because Klopp thought Dortmund’s asking price was far too high and quickly stated that the Reds will focus their efforts elsewhere. He decided not to re-sign former Liverpool hero Philippe Coutinho for the same reason.

According to reports, both players had asking prices of £100 million, and Barcelona was eager to get back some of the £142 million they had originally paid Liverpool to get Coutinho in 2018. It’s thought that Klopp made the argument that by managing Coutinho’s comeback, he was impeding the development of young players like Harvey Elliot.

At the time, Coutinho was 28 years old, which meant that his prime had probably passed and that, at most, Liverpool would receive three seasons’ worth of quality for a club record sum.

Sancho, who was only 20 at the time, could not make the same case, but he would have also limited the amount of time the young players already at Anfield had to play. The wide forward did eventually decide to transfer to the Premier League, but it was to Manchester United, Liverpool’s bitter rivals.