If you've been waiting for the other shoe to drop regarding Liverpool's incredibly optimistic transfer business thus far, this might be it. Both Alberto Moreno and Xherdan Shaqiri, two of the club's most exciting targets, have both recently distanced themselves from rumours that they are imminently en route to Liverpool.
"All I know is that I've been a Sevillista since I was a kid," Moreno said on the subject of moving elsewhere. "My future? I do not know about that. That's a matter for my father and my agent to deal with. I have four years [left on my contract], I am dedicated to play and I'm happy here."
If this signals that Everything is The Worst, there is the silver lining that this is exactly the kind of thing that many players say to tedious questions about things they're not really allowed to talk about in the middle of a transfer negotiation. Everything may yet bet the best regarding Moreno.
On the Shaqiri side of things, the English press are running with stories from a Swiss media outlet stating that the stocky winger sees himself remaining at the Allianz Arena next season. There's little reason to revert to hand-wringing, though, as the quotes are recycled from last month's Q&A session with young children ahead of the DFB-Pokal final, the one in which Shaqiri proved he's not a jerkface when it comes to hanging out with kids.
It's unknown why the Shaqiri quotes from a few weeks ago are popping up suddenly as if they're new; the only new information is that he uses "a special wax" on his hair, revealed when asked why type of hair gel he uses. If Shaqiri does indeed end up on Merseyside, someone needs to hire these children as special European correspondents for Kop Kids ahead of Champions League matches.