At the time, Sancho was by no means a superstar but his stock was on the rise and his price tag was heading in the same direction. He was lighting up the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund and it soon became clear he was destined for bigger things than Signal Iduna Park.
As a result, a number of clubs were linked with his signature. Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain were all at one stage touted with a swoop for Sancho, but that year nothing materialised. Liverpool didn’t even bother. because Dortmund’s asking price was deemed far too steep by Klopp, who soon insisted that the Reds would divert their attention elsewhere. It was for the same reason that he deciced not to re-sign former Anfield hero Philippe Coutinho.
Both players were reportedly being touted with £100million price tags, with Barcelona desperate to recoup some of the £142m they gave Liverpool to sign Coutinho in the first place back in 2018. Klopp is believed to have argued that by overseeing Coutinho’s return, he’d by obstructing the path of promising young talent including Harvey Elliot.
HAVE YOUR SAY!Would Sancho have been a success at Liverpool? Comment below Liverpool opted against trying to sign Jadon Sancho in 2020 because of his price tag
Coutinho was also 28 years of age at the time, meaning that his best days were likely behind him and Liverpool would probably be getting three seasons worth of quality at best, for a club record fee.
The same argument couldn’t be made for Sancho, given he was only 20 at the time, but he too would have restricted the game time of young talent already at Anfield. Eventually, the wide-forward did make the move to the Premier League, but it was to join Liverpool’s fierce rivals Manchester United.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool aren’t known for spending big.
They’ve forked out when required, like when they landed the signatures of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, but for the most part the Reds boss likes a player he can mould into a superstar that costs less than a ready-made one. It was this logic that saw Liverpool snub a move for Jadon Sancho in 2020.
