£100 million for Richarlison? People are underestimating the impact of Covid on football finances. Diogo Jota is the same age as Richarlison and — based on what he’s showed so far for Liverpool — he is a more effective player. Jota has better off the ball movement, is more efficient in front of goal and is more versatile (in that he seems to play at a very high level not only from his favoured left-sided attacking position but also through the middle and from the right, whereas Richarlison can’t play as a central striker as his hold up play is rubbish). Jota is currently the most potent goal threat in a Liverpool team containing Salah and Mane and, whilst playing the same position, will almost certainly end up scoring twice as many goals as Richarlison this season. (From what I’ve seen they’re about equal on pressing and the defensive side).
Jota cost £41 million. Now you could say that that was a bargain, and that Jota’s value has almost doubled since his move. And you’d be right. So, assuming that Jota is now worth £75 - £80 million, what is Richarlison’s current transfer value? I would estimate that he is worth about £50 million at this moment. In a market in which probably only Mbappe and Haaland are guaranteed £100 million + players, there is absolutely no prospect of anyone paying £100 million for Richarlison. In fact, any club forking out £50 million for him would probably need to be long term admirers who are prepared to discount his recent form (as Liverpool did with Jota who was in and out of the Wolves first team for much of last season) in the expectation of being able to unlock his untapped potential —as Klopp has done with Jota.
