It’s been a very busy few days at Anfield.On Friday, the Reds finally got the signing of Thiago over the line after weeks of being linked with him.The £20m fee will be paid in instalments over the length of the four-year deal, with up to an additional £5m being paid based on the Liverpool’s success in the Premier League and Champions League as well as any individual awards earned by Thiago.Almost the minute Thiago was announced, there were reports suddenly linking Liverpool with another signing - Diogo Jota from Wolves.Liverpool and Jota hadn’t been mentioned in the same breath all summer but 24 hours later, he was announced on social media.
Incredible.
While that will probably be that in terms of recruitment, with Konstantinos Tsimikas having already arrived, it begs the question of whether Liverpool now need to sell.
With Thiago incoming, there were immediately suggestions that Georginio Wijanldum’s Liverpool career is over.
The Dutchman’s place in the starting line-up is now under threat by Thiago and the 29-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the season. When you consider his former manager for the national side, Ronald Koeman, has taken over at Barcelona and wants to sign him, it all points to one thing.
However, Barcelona are actually BANNED from signing Wijnaldum right now.
That’s according to the Mirror, who claim La Liga will prevent Koeman from spending any money due to the club’s financial situation.
The report reveals the Spanish league have blocked Barca’s move as La Liga clubs are operating under strict financial guidelines following the coronavirus pandemic.
Barca currently have a £510million-a-year wage bill and are banned from signing Wijnaldum unless they raise the money with player sales first.
They also have to pay the same amount as the transfer fee to the Spanish government, meaning the deal now looks almost impossible.
Joris Evers, La Liga's director of communications, says: “We have a financial system, which goes beyond UEFA’s Financial Fair Play.
"At UEFA they look at figures when a season is finished, we set the standards before the season starts. If Barcelona try to do a deal behind the scenes, our analysts will notice this immediately.
“The clubs agreed on this system as a reaction on a period when they were struggling to pay the wages of the players, because they'd overspent time and time again. Nobody wants to go back to that situation.’’
The Covid-19 crisis has apparently cost Barcelona £300 million in six months as they’ve asked their entire squad to cut their salaries by up to 70%.
So, Thiago and Jota have arrived and Wijnaldum is now banned from joining Barcelona.
What a great few days for Liverpool.