Liverpool transfers: ‘Reds right not to overpay for Yevhen Konoplyanka’

Liverpool were right not to match Dnipro’s inflated asking price for Yevhen Konoplyanka, according to former Reds defender Mark Lawrenson.

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre flew out to Ukraine to try to thrash out a move for the 24-year-old winger last week but the Reds failed to agree a deal for the playmaker before Friday’s January transfer deadline.

Dnipro were the big losers out of all that carry on. Not Liverpool

Mark Lawrenson

The Reds have been criticised for failing to strengthen their stretched squad last month, but former Liverpool centre-half Lawrenson feels the 18-time English champions made the right decision not to match Dnipro’s excessive demands.

“I’m sorry but you cannot prostitute your club because the owner of an outfit in the Ukraine decides he wants four or five million quid more. No chance,” Lawrenson wrote in his Daily Mirror column.

“People can point to Liverpool missing out on Mohamed Salah, but Chelsea were always in the background.

“With Konoplyanka I can’t really see what more Liverpool could have done. Dnipro were the big losers out of all that carry on. Not Liverpool.”