Klopp told he should have snapped up £28m Championship star instead of Luis Diaz for Liverpool
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp should have looked to sign Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest in January, according to one EFL club chairman.
The Reds had a quiet winter transfer window, only making one signing. However, they stole the headlines, with Luis Diaz becoming the most expensive January arrival for a Premier League club.
The former Porto winger is a signing for the present, as well as the future. Indeed, Liverpool boss Klopp revealed that he had tracked the Colombian for a while and initially planned to sign him in the summer.
According to Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony, though, Liverpool should have instead looked to dip into the Championship for a new attacking signing.
Indeed, MacAnthony insisted that Forest star Johnson would have proved a good signing. The chairman claimed that by signing Johnson, Liverpool would have trickled vital funds down the football pyramid.
Speaking to The Hard Truth podcast, Liverpool fan MacAnthony said: “I’m happy for Liverpool to spend €52million on a Portuguese guy.
“But I’d have loved them to have spent £28million on a player in the Championship and then that player’s sell-on will go to the club before.
“There’s not enough of that, for me, that goes on.”
Johnson, 20, has risen through the Forest academy ranks to become a first-team star. After initially breaking into the first team in the 2019/20 season, he starred on loan at Lincoln last term.
As such, he has come into the Forest team this campaign with eight goals and five assists in all competitions, playing in a variety of attacking positions.
He has also stood out in the FA Cup, playing the full match as Forest dumped Arsenal out before netting in the 4-1 fourth-round win over Leicester.
As such, MacAnthony added that Johnson may go on to become as good as Diaz. Crucially, he added that the player would cost a fraction of the price.
Liverpool should have considered Brennan Johnson
“People always say English players are too expensive. Well, with all due respect, I would say that the Championship is as good as the Portuguese league,” MacAnthony added.
“That player [Diaz] has, I don’t know, 15 goals and 10 assists.
“Well I could show you a couple of players, the boy at [Nottingham Forest], Brennan Johnson, will probably be just as good as that player down the line in the future.
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“He won’t get sold for €52million, it’ll be more like £20million quid. No one bought him, Nottingham Forest wanted to sell.”
Indeed, reports have claimed that Brentford had a substantial bid rejected by Forest for Johnson.
Diaz, meanwhile, made an instant impact on his Liverpool debut. The Colombia international notched an assist in the Reds’ 3-1 FA Cup win over Cardiff at Anfield.
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