Reds boss Jurgen Klopp twists the knife for David Moyes and West Ham with new Liverpool transfer claim that will sting.
When the January transfer window came around both West Ham and Liverpool had so much to play for in the second half of the season.
Fast forward a couple of months and that very much remains the case for Klopp’s Reds and Moyes’s Hammers.
Both are bidding for a place in the semi-finals of European competition and have plenty to fight for in the Premier League.
West Ham and Liverpool – who are vying for the quadruple – are competing at different levels on the pitch. Although West Ham are doing a lot to try and close that gap over the last two years.
In the January window, though, West Ham and Liverpool were very much competing off the pitch.
Hammers fans were angry at the club’s failure to add to the squad in January.
And in a bid to appease supporters, Moyes recently revealed he almost had brilliant new Liverpool star Luis Diaz signed and sealed for West Ham only for Liverpool to swoop in at the last minute.
“We were quite far down the line to sign him from Porto,’ the West Ham manager told reporters after the window closed (The Daily Mail).
“My understanding is Liverpool were going to come in for him in the summer, and I was going to try to get him in January.
“I don’t know if us trying to get him in January affected Liverpool’s decision but he’s a really good player. I really hoped that he was going to choose West Ham. We didn’t get him in but our ambition to sign the best players to improve West Ham is good. I want to make us better and I don’t want it to be mediocre if I can help it.”
West Ham’s loss has very much been Liverpool’s gain.
Diaz has taken the Premier League by storm and was magnificent again in Liverpool’s 3-1 Champions League quarter-final win at Benfica on Tuesday night.
Moyes and Hammers fans have been watching on with envy at the Colombian ripping it up with the Reds.
And now Klopp has twisted the knife for Moyes and West Ham with a new Liverpool transfer claim that will certainly sting.
Klopp claims he is delighted the club decided to move to beat West Ham to Diaz in January rather than waiting – as Moyes suggested the Reds wanted to – until the summer (Eurosport).
“He’s a top player,” Klopp said in the wake of Diaz’s latest brilliant showing in the win over Benfica (Eurosport).
“He’s a top, top world level player. It’s a joy for me to work with Luís every day.
“And I’m more than happy that we decided to sign him in January.”
Klopp may have something West Ham boss Moyes desperately wanted.
But the Scot has something Klopp allegedly wants too – Hammers star Jarrod Bowen.
Let’s hope Bowen continues to do for West Ham what Diaz has been doing for Liverpool as the Hammers gear up for their own European quarter-final against Lyon over the next week.
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