Liverpool could sign gem in line with three-step policy, with €35m deal rumoured to be complete already

With suggestions made earlier this month that a deal for Renato Sanches is already complete, we take a look at why it would make perfect sense.

Liverpool fans (myself included) often get annoyed at the way the club insists on selling players to generate funds to buy new ones.

Ultimately, it's a decision that rests with the owners as they decide whether or not to fund moves for the most expensive players in the world.

Only on a few occasions have Liverpool splurged in a real way. Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker remain the club's only genuine marquee signings, costing a combined total of £141million.

The only reason they were signed in the first place was that the club had generated £142m by selling Phillipe Coutinho.

Now, with Mohamed Salah and his ilk not set to take their leave this summer, Liverpool are not going to be lining their pockets with huge sums of cash.

Therefore, signing the likes of Jadon Sancho like the club's greatest rivals Manchester United is virtually impossible.

With that in mind, signing someone young, with one or two years remaining on his contract and with huge room to grow will once again be Liverpool's remit.

In April, the Daily Star reported that Michael Edwards would be identifying targets this summer according to a three-step club policy which Lille's Renato Sanches matches perfectly.

The first step is the most obvious: Jurgen Klopp must rate and want the player in question because ultimately he has the final say on player selection.

The second step requires FSG’s blessing. At the end of the day, they are the ones funding transfers and if they have reason to believe a deal is too expensive, it doesn’t fit the profile of player they want to sign or is unacceptable for another reason, they are entitled to pull the plug.

Thirdly, “any transfers must be kept in line. That includes the latest transfer market trends and assesses availability.”

Liverpool’s owners value sustainability above all else and believe that paying a new player huge wages will trigger a wave of internal negotiations with existing players that would then feel under-appreciated or undervalued.

Sanches ticks all the boxes and at 23, with two years left on his contract, he has huge potential and would be a great signing if Liverpool could get it over the line.

That is if they haven't already.

It's gone very quiet ever since but, and this is purely a theory based on nothing but my own opinion, the Reds could have the deal on ice while they waited to generate funds.

Now that Marko Grujic and Taiwo Awoniyi have left the club, if my wild theory is correct, Liverpool could fast-track a move to sign the Portuguese but time will tell!