Jamie Carragher thinks Martin Zubimendi rejected Liverpool because Real Sociedad pressured him into staying. The Reds were seemingly on the verge of sealing a £51.3million move for the Spaniard, only for the deal to collapse at the 11th hour.
Zubimendi, who would have become the first signing of the Arne Slot era, is now expected to stay at Real Sociedad, his boyhood club. As such, Liverpool's midfield transfer plans have blown up in their face on the cusp of the new season for the second year running, having lost out on both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea last summer.
Speaking on the Stick To Football podcast, Liverpool legend Carragher thinks Zubimendi changed his mind about the move due to a "complicated" stipulation in his contract. The 25-year-old has a £51.3m release clause, but Carragher reckons that Zubimendi needed to push for a departure in order for it to be activated.
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"Reading between the lines in terms of reading journalists reports this morning, who obviously get fed information by the club of course, that he had a buy-out clause for fifty-one million I think, and he said he would come. Liverpool then go to do the deal and I think the club put a lot of pressure on him to stay," Carragher said.
"It wasn’t just a buy-out clause where Liverpool go and pay it, I was reading about it, the player has to almost do it. It was a bit complicated, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded for Liverpool."
Confusion aside, Carragher conceded that the saga was a bad look for his former club, particularly after what happened last summer. "They’ve gone for this sitting midfield player, who is a different type of sitting midfield player to what Jürgen Klopp would have gone for... this guy was obviously more of a footballer, technical player.
"But a lot has been made of Liverpool bringing the old regime back, in terms of getting deals done and transfers done – and it was always made out that we’re the best in the class, we’re the best in the business, and listen they did a great job. But to not get the first deal done for the new manager, the optics are not great.
"It doesn’t look good at all, and it’s a position Liverpool have been looking for, for probably three seasons. They tried to buy [Aurelien] Tchouaméni who went to Real Madrid, they obviously lost Caicedo, Lavia, and now they’ve lost this player."
Liverpool kick their Premier League campaign off with a trip to newly-promoted Ipswich on Saturday, before welcoming Brentford to Anfield the following Sunday. It's understood they still want to bring two or three players in before the window shuts, with deals for Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon and Valencia goalkeeper Giorgio Mamardashvili reportedly in the pipelines.
Two days after the window slams shut, Slot's men travel to Old Trafford for a highly-anticipated showdown with Erik ten Hag's Manchester United. So fans will be desperate for the club to get their ducks in order by then.
