I think with Haaland, the possibility of him not going to Dortmund, but straight to a top, top side… he could’ve done it. I don’t think it was impossible for him, regardless of his Dortmund period so far. Minamino wasn’t that “obvious” neither as a player in the middle of his career nor as a talent, but he was an interesting combination of style, age and price.
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With hindsight, he could have had a lot of minutes with us, given that Mané and especially Bobby had some hairy moments last season. He definitely would have had the quality to bring himself into discussion for a regular place in the team looking forward. But that wasn’t something which could be expected at the start of the season. He’d have been the number four. And given how much Klopp trusts his three forwards, he’d have had a hard time to work himself into his plans.
That in turn could have hindered his development, and we’d possibly talk about him as we talk about other players who are hindered by lacking minutes on the pitch (ie. Origi, even though Haaland’s potential is higher).
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Haaland with Salah, Mane and Firmino would have had the same situation here as when Salah arrived with Coutinho, Mane and Firmino here. If they’re good enough they’ll end up playing. He was good enough from day 1 at Dortmund there was no settling in period. If he was good enough from day 1 here Klopp would play him.
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There was still a massive risk he wouldn’t step up, and at that point there was no way to know Bobby and Mane’s form would nose dive. The period before Haaland went to Dortmund there was minimal chance he’d come here and get the minutes he needed at the top of the game to turn into the player he is now. It’s not just us who didn’t take the risk - Utd, Chelsea all wanted him but couldn’t give him the minutes he wanted.
And no it’s not like when Salah joined, not even remotely close don’t be silly. Salah joined with Mane and Bobby here, with a clear 3rd spot available for full minutes, he was competing with Ings, Origi and Solanke… Vastly different to Haaland coming in and competing against a world class attacking trio of Mane, Salah and Firmino.
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I cant help but think we missed a beat here. His stats vs his price in a risk analysis is very good, his sell on value would be good even if he wasnt setting the PL on fire.
Of course I trust in Klopp and Edwards to get the right player, their record proves the point…
But, this guy could be worth a lot more next year.
It’s awfully quiet. 
Coutinho?
Lots of clubs made approaches. Dortmund got him because that’s what they wanted, a reasonable mid point club to get the best out of him willing to stick a release clause in. That way he can end up at one of the very top clubs a couple of seasons later instead of moving to United or Chelsea and getting bogged down for 5 years or so in a team that constantly nearly competes but rarely does.
Meaning #Mbappe2021 is about to be announced
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In our dreams, it might be, in reality, not a chance.
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I wouldn’t say not a chance, but I do agree it is highly unlikely
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Spoilsport 
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Don’t take this the wrong way or as a personal dig but I do wonder whether opinions on Daka would be different had Haaland not been such a huge success.
Without seeing this through the lens of Haaland, I can’t help but think we’d see a lot of people complaining about FSG being cheap or lacking ambition and worrying about the step up if our main attacking target for the summer was a 22 year old, £20m centre forward playing in Austria.
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Unless we go for a worldie, which is unlikely in the circumstances, any forward coming in is going to be fifth choice. He needs to be an understudy and eventual replacement for Bobby. A 22 year old, 20m CF from the Austrian league would be ideal for this role.
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The concept of first, second, third choice etc is a bit dated. It depends on form, fitness, opponents as to who plays. Nominally Jota might have been seen as 4th choice by some when he signed but at times last year he played ahead of either or both of Mane and Firmino and would have done more so if he hadn’t been injured.
Also, if you’re going to frame it like that why would he sign for us if he’s told he’d be fifth choice instead of going to Leicester where he gets to compete to start every week.
According to LFC transfer room, Fabrizio Romano has said there are several clubs interested in Origi. I dont think I have seen him tweet that and I don’t read the Athletic if that is where it has been said. If true, that sounds a positive move as I don’t think we saw origi get linked to many clubs last season - I only remember Villa.
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I don’t remember even that. 
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It was more of a general statement from him, he never mentioned any of the interested clubs by name. To be honest, I hoped his sale would have been done by now.
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To be honest I really didnt consider Haaland as a comparitor. That would be lazy and overly ambitious. I saw Daka’s stats and for that money he would make a lot of sense.
So, without having a dig, Daka too cheap for you and Mbappe too expensive?
That’s exactly why he is going to Leicester.
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Not really about the price, more about the step up required to go from the Austrian league to the Premier League.
Goal wise the stats are great but when you look at shots per game, touches in the opposition box etc he’s getting an awfully high amount of those because of the quality of the league is poor and Salzburg are so strong compared to everyone else. My worry would be he’s not going to get that same level of the underlying stats here to enable him to replicate the volume of goals.
Finding someone who gets slightly fewer goals but from less opportunities whilst playing against higher class opposition would be my hope.
Not to say he’ll be a flop or we might regret it but data wise I’m not convinced and I’m not sure his style naturally fits with ours either. Just an opinion and I’ve been wrong plenty before so we’ll see how he goes.
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