OPINION
Liverpool are certainly in the Halloween spirit as they are reportedly set to demand in excess of £20million for attacker Divock Origi in January.
The Liverpool Echo reported on Thursday that the Reds were not going to sell their 23-year-old forward on the cheap despite him not featuring for the first-team at all this season.
The local newspaper claimed that the Reds were willing to part company with Origi but surely there is no one willing to meet their lucrative price tag for a player who can’t get a look in at Anfield.
Given how much money £20million is for a lot of clubs, then potential suitors will surely be given a fright upon learning the Reds’ demand and be scared off pursuing the forward’s services.
ESPN reported that Everton were keeping tabs on the forward but it’s hard to see them paying that amount when you consider Origi has never really set the Premier League alight.
Origi has managed to only score 12 goals in England’s top-flight despite playing 51 games in it and that doesn’t suggest he has the talent to boost the Reds’ local rival’s firepower.
While the broadcaster also claimed that Wolves had a £22million+ deal in place to sign the Reds outcast in the summer, they have shined without him and are no doubt grateful he rejected the chance to join them.
Given that Origi had a very disappointing pre-season and has done nothing to show that he is justified spending above £20million on as he hasn’t featured this season, then no one is likely to come with a similar offer again.
Wolves were making that offer for Origi on the summer based on his semi-successful loan spell at Wolfsburg but the memory of the glimpses of talent he showed in Germany are surely mostly forgotten now.
Also The Chronicle reported that Rafa Benitez had asked about bringing the attacker to Newcastle United and when Mike Ashley hears the player’s price tag, given his reluctance to spend as it is, surely he will scream in horror and rule out approving a swoop.
Origi may still be relatively young but the Reds are effectively asking a club to play a inflated price based on a player who is mostly just raw potential, so it’s hard to see how they will have any suitors still interested once they discover the player’s price tag.
