€72 million for Adam Lallana and Christian Benteke. Two lads that did okay but never really settled at Anfield. Hardly value for money.
In 2014, Lallana joined Liverpool for £25m [€31.5m] as part of a £50m [€63m] outlay that included himself, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren.
Lambert is out the door and Lallana could be joining him this summer. Liverpool are in no rush to sell the midfielder but are willing to listen to decent offers.
That offer may well come from Tottenham in the coming weeks. The Sun report that Mauricio Pochettino is keen to get his hands on the player, who excelled for him at Southampton, and has asked the club to offer what it takes.
That fee is likely to be in the region of £20m [€25m] for a player that has scored 11 times in 80 games [64 starts] and chipped in with 10 assists.
That is a reasonable return but the feeling, in many quarters, is that Lallana is not the man for the big occasion.
VIDEO: Adam Lallana suffers ultimate humiliation in front of over 86,000 witnesses https://t.co/bvKMt5e36N #LFC #MCFC
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 29, 2016
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be looking to get in some fresh faces, and legs, this summer so may be further heartened to hear West Ham are serious about their £25m [€31.5m] bid for Benteke.
The Mirror claim the Hammers are eager to push for Champions League football in the coming seasons and feel the 25-year-old Belgian will fit like a properly sized glove.
Liverpool splashed out £32m [€40.5m] for Benteke last summer and while he has found the net nine times, he appears to have a better impact coming off the bench [five goals, two assists]. Not exactly the sort of impact the Reds had when they signed him to lead their line.
All told, if Liverpool do sell Lallana and Benteke on, they could recoup most of the money spent on the duo – £45m back from £57 spent [or €56.5m from €72m].
Not perfect but not too bad. Much like Lallana and Benteke.
