Rumor Mongering: Liverpool Have £61 Million Bid Rejected For Benfica Starlet

Let’s see: a well-regarded young talent, currently plying his trade for Benfica, looking to secure an expensive and high profile move to an English club. What could possibly go wrong?

Ignoring, for a moment, the fate of cautionary tale Lazar Markovic, Benfica have yet another exciting attacking youth in 19-year-old João Félix. And according to Portuguese publication Correio da Manha, Liverpool just had a whopping £61 million bid for Félix rejected. Further, the report states that the young player recently signed a new contract with a £105 million release clause.

If true, this is shocking on several levels. Although Félix has impressed in his limited first-team opportunities, to the tune of 4 goals and an assist in 319 minutes of Primeira Liga football, tabling Alisson money for this still young and largely inexperienced player would be at odds to Liverpool’s recent (and very successful) transfer strategy. It would also be a surprise, considering Jürgen Klopp’s steadfast insistence that he was not dipping into the transfer market this winter.

Klopp and Co. have been pretty good about keeping a lid on potential transfers recently, so stories from local sources—even notoriously rumor monger-y ones—cannot be ignored completely. However, the more likely explanation is that this is just click bait, and the inclusion of supposed interest from Manchesters United and City would only further point to that conclusion.