Opinion: What Alfie Haaland's meeting with Barcelona means for Liverpool

The 20-year-old forward has scored 33 goals this season in all competitions but has also created a further 8 for his teammates. Most notably, he has 10 goals in 6 Champions League games which should terrify Manchester City fans ahead of their quarter-final clash.

"It was the first contact to discuss about the new Barcelona project - obviously there’s nothing done or advanced, race will be long as many clubs are involved... Barça are in."

For Liverpool, this is good news. Even though Fenway Sports Group have sold 10% of the club to acquire a £534m cash injection, they aren't going to make those funds available to Jurgen Klopp for a massive spending spree.

If the Reds want to sign Haaland or Mbappe, they will need to generate the funds from the club's own revenue sources. At least the Reds can rest assured that while they won't be able to sign the Norwegian or Frenchman this summer without investing hugely, neither will their rivals.