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When Luis Alberto came to Liverpool from Sevilla for £6.8 million in 2013, he seemed like an exciting attacking prospect who would compete with the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling for a place in Liverpool’s attack. After a year spent primarily with the reserves, followed by two years of middling loan moves, the hope that Alberto would provide any significant return for Liverpool seemed over. He was sold on to Lazio for a paltry £4.3m in 2016.
Since his move to Lazio, Luis Alberto has proven to be one of the best creative players in Serie A. Over the past four seasons, he has racked up 20 goals and 33 assists in the league. With his stellar form, Lazio are reportedly desperate to sign Alberto to a new deal with a release clause set at an eye-watering £87 million. There are several teams lurking in the wings looking to buy Alberto from Lazio, however, including Everton. According to the Liverpool Echo (and others), Lazio would be willing to listen to offers of £69 million this summer if they cannot resign Alberto. Nice...for Lazio that is.
So, how does Liverpool factor into all of this? Enter the magnificent Michael Edwards. Edwards apparently negotiated in a 30% sell on fee as part of the transfer to Lazio. If Lazio do sell Luis Alberto this summer, Liverpool could stand to make north of £20 million. That would make for a nice boost to the transfer kitty as Liverpool are purportedly in the mix for several players this summer. In fact, the sell on fee amount would be a full one-third of Timo Werner’s release clause.
So, what’s the moral of the story? While everyone else is playing checkers, Michael Edwards is playing 4-D chess.