‘People turned their nose up at Mane so Jota can star’ – Murphy sees sense in Liverpool’s latest £41m deal

BetOdds Liverpool Diogo Jota Premier League Sadio Mané

The former Reds midfielder admits a raid on Wolves came “out of the blue”, but he believes a Portuguese forward can be another Anfield success story

Diogo Jota can prove to be “sensible business” for Liverpool, says Danny Murphy, with the former Reds midfielder pointing out that “people turned their nose up at Sadio Mane for £30 million”.

Jurgen Klopp has invested heavily in another forward during the current transfer window.

The Liverpool boss had faced plenty of calls for further firepower to be added to the ranks at Anfield, despite landing a long-awaited Premier League title in 2019-20.

Mohamed Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino form one of the most devastating attacking tridents in world football, but they do need support from a deeper talent pool.

Klopp has sought to address those issues by bringing in Jota, with the Portuguese acquired from Wolves for £41m ($53m).

Murphy admits that deal “came of the blue”, but he is not surprised to see Liverpool rolling the dice again on a 23-year-old with plenty of potential still to be unlocked.

The Reds have found considerable value across their recent transfer business, snapping up the likes of Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, and Jota is being tipped to become the latest success story.

Ex-Reds star Murphy told talkSPORT: “The recruitment history of Liverpool has been phenomenal in the last few seasons.

“Jota came out of the blue, I didn’t see that one coming. He’s a talent, he can play across the front three, he’s versatile, he’s hungry.

“Time will tell on that [whether he is value for money]. People turned their nose up at Mane for £30m from Southampton, so who are we to question their judgement?

“I think he is somebody who is definitely at the right age in terms of wanting to improve and get better.

“Klopp generally improves players as well and if you’ve got someone who got 17 goals for Wolves last season under the management of Klopp and around better players, why can’t he kick on again?

“Sensible business.”

Jota has become the third addition to Klopp’s ranks in the summer window, with Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas and Spain international playmaker Thiago Alcantara already snapped up.

The latter made his bow in a 2-0 Premier League win over Chelsea, with the record books re-written at Stamford Bridge, and Jota will be hoping that his opportunity to impress comes sooner rather than later.

2020-09-21 18:00:03

Comments

Send Your Comment

Download Application