Liverpool have no need to battle Manchester United for Jadon Sancho, says John Barnes, with it unlikely that the Reds would be willing to invest £100 million ($130m) in a player who would not start ahead of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Jurgen Klopp has seen a raid on his former employers at Borussia Dortmund mooted.
Anfield was considered to be a potential Premier League landing spot for Sancho before United took charge of that transfer race and proceeded to spend much of the summer trying to put a deal in place.
They were left frustrated in those efforts, but interest from Old Trafford in the talented 20-year-old is expected to be retained.
It has also been suggested that Liverpool may be tempted to join the chase if Dortmund open an exit door in future windows, but Barnes doubts that Klopp will consider spending again in an area of his squad that is already well stocked and has just seen Diogo Jota added to the mix.
The Reds legend told BonusCodeBets of the Sancho speculation: “I can’t see Sancho getting in ahead of Mane, Salah or [Roberto] Firmino, so for him to come he would have to fight for a place and not necessarily be in the team.
“I don’t think anyone from the front three will be replaced and seeing as they’ve just signed Jota and they have [Divock] Origi and [Xherdan] Shaqiri, it doesn’t make sense to get Sancho. I’d be very surprised if they get him.
“It’s good to get great players, but are Liverpool going to spend £100m on one player? I doubt it very much. I don’t think that’s one that will happen.”
The summer recruitment deadline passed with Liverpool making three additions to their ranks in the form of Jota, Thiago Alcantara and Kostas Tsimikas.
Asked for his take on the business of the reigning Premier League champions, Barnes said: “It’s been as good as anybody else's in these times.
“They’ve got two excellent players in Thiago and Jota, so rather than getting players just to make up numbers and be in the squad, Klopp’s got quality players that can come into the team without spending a huge amount of money.”
Quizzed on which member of English football’s elite enjoyed the most productive window, Barnes said: “You could look at the players that Chelsea have got, especially Kai Havertz and Timo Werner, two young players that will be great for the future.
“But Chelsea needed to strengthen because they haven’t been able to spend money, so from that perspective Chelsea have probably had the best transfer window in terms of the names they’ve been able to bring in and the quality, but that definitely won’t translate to winning football matches, they now have to go and prove it.
“They’ve been inconsistent, but when they’ve played well they’ve been good.”