Liverpool have submitted a bid for Piotr Zielinski according to a report carried by the Daily Express. ll Mattino, an Italian paper claims that we have actually bid £25 million for the midfielder but his club Napoli want a lot more than that.

The 23-year-old also was a target for us last season but he decided to stay in Italy and turned up for Napoli after spending a couple of seasons at Empoli.

Zielinski was quoted as saying that Jurgen Klopp had bid for him but he didn’t want to leave his side at the time.

“There were days when I was walking out of home, looked into my mobile and I didn’t know what to do.

“I spoke a lot with Konrad Golos and Tomasz Dawidowski – my managers from the agency representing me.

“Everyone said: ‘Great offer, Klopp wants you, it’s a fairytale in terms of finances’. All fine, but I wasn’t convinced.

“I was driving my car and I said to my girlfriend: ‘No, red light, I’m not leaving’.

“I felt great in Empoli, I didn’t want to leave the lads when we were battling for the European places.”

While Klopp seems to be intent in bringing the talented midfielder, Napoli are making it tough for any club who wants Zielinski.

The report from the Italian outfit claims that the Serie A club wants close to £61 million, which is stated to be his buyout clause.

Crazy amounts in crazy times

This is yet another example of a crazy amount being quoted just because a team wants to. Zielinski did play in 47 games for the Serie A side and scored six goals but he isn’t worth £61 million. Every club seems to be quoting ridiculous amounts for their players, especially to English clubs thanks to our TV deals.

The report also states that Tottenham have put in a bid for the Polish central midfielder and that Real Madrid are also keen.

In a time where we need to add quality players to the side, it is a little disheartening to see us lose out on our top targets. Mahmoud Dahoud was the one player that Klopp had earmarked to shore up the midfield but he went to Borussia Dortmund and he certainly didn’t cost as much as Napoli are asking for Zielinski.

The summer is going to be a long and arduous one for us Liverpool fans as we are being asked to pay crazy amounts for the players that we want. Zielinski would have been a good addition to the side but £61 million is a bit steep and a big risk for a player that has no prior Premier League experience.