Liverpool get their £130m phenomenon at brilliant £50m discount | OneFootball

Liverpool spent massively as they looked for their next superstar. It turns out they didn't have to spend anywhere near what they thought.

Liverpool's summer was one to behold as they spent on a bigger scale than at any other point in their history. Richard Hughes led the pursuit of some of football's biggest names.

The task was a grand one, after all: retool and improve a title-winning squad. That's no easy feat, as we've seen this season.

But the massive spend wasn't simply about competing this season. Replacing key components of the squad also meant finding players who could lead Liverpool for their next generation.

That's why Liverpool put so much money aside for it all. They wanted to find genuine superstars that were to be the building blocks of a world-leading team.

They spent over £200m on just two players to be at the heart of it all. First, the transfer record was broken for Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. Then Liverpool broke both their own and the British transfer record to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.

That deal could reach £130m, per the BBC. That's the amount Liverpool were willing to pay to get their next-gen superstar but as it turns out, they actually didn't get their star for that much.

They got him for £50m less.

Hugo Ekitike is the one

Hugo Ekitike was Liverpool’s ‘other’ striker signing in the summer. He didn’t arrive for a record-breaking amount, signing from Eintracht Frankfurt for around £80m, per the BBC.

Six months later, though, he is the clear standout of Liverpool’s summer arrivals. In fact, he’s everything the Reds wanted when they bought Isak.

Ekitike is the player to take over as the star of the attack. That seems clear right now, especially as he’s a couple of years younger than Isak but outperforming him.

The feeling is that the sky is the limit right now. That’s what Liverpool wanted when they sought to sign an elite striker for £130m and they’ve achieved it - even if it wasn’t the one they paid the money for.

But Ekitike, who averages 0.83 goals and assists per 90 minutes in the Premier League, has adapted beautifully to Liverpool. Incredibly, he’s done it in a way that few could as he’s adapted while the team as a whole isn’t performing well.

Again, it’s the sign of a true superstar and someone you build around. Here’s one of the few finding a way to make goals happen - so how can Liverpool put the right players around him?

The club found their building block for the next generation, picking up a wonderfully versatile striker who scores all types of goals and is heavily involved in play. They paid £130m to have such a player - technically, they got it.