Jurgen Klopp has hailed his recruitment team at Liverpool for Diogo Jota's impact, believing the club signed the forward at exactly the right time.
Jota arrived at Anfield from Wolves in September 2020 for a fee reported to be in the region of £41million, potentially rising to £45m.
Some eyebrows were raised at the time at the size of the fee for a player who had scored 16 goals in 48 games in all competitions in the 2019-20 season.
However, Jota has thrived at Liverpool under Klopp, scoring 13 in 30 appearances in his first season on Merseyside and 17 in 30 this term.
In the Premier League, the Portugal international has 12 in 2021-22, trailing only team-mate Mohamed Salah's 16 after his brace in Thursday's 2-0 win against Leicester City.
Ahead of Liverpool's trip to Burnley on Sunday, Klopp was asked what the key to Jota's signing and development have been.
"It is timing," he replied. "I am 100 per cent sure Diogo Jota a year later would have had offers from other top clubs; maybe in the year we wanted him that was not the case.
"Similar with Mo, if Mo had played another season at Roma in a similar manner, there would have been other clubs in.
"It is about what you need in the moment... The most important thing for a signing is that the team they join is in a good place. It means they don't have to change the world straight from the first day.
"Since I was here the team was always already good before a new player arrived, so they could settle in. Some quicker, some needed a bit more time.
"Fabinho was an example. When he came here it was really tricky to adapt to the way we play, the system we play. We tried to help him but it was not that we could do that overnight.
"If you have time, any player with the value of £40m, £50m, £60m or whatever, they are all quality, but you can't create a situation for them. The situation has to be there. When they arrive they have to join a settled team, and then they can help them to make the next step."
New Liverpool signing Luis Diaz impressed on his Premier League debut against Leicester, and Klopp was asked more generally about the success of the club's recruitment in recent years.
"There is no key apart from having smart people in the right positions, though I'm pretty sure other teams have that as well," he said.
"The boys we brought in, it is not that we bought bargains. Alisson was expensive but everyone sees how good he is, similar to Virgil [van Dijk].
"It is no secret that our transfers here have to hit the ground. It's not as if, as we say in Germany, we don't 'swim in money'. We are a wealthy club, no problems, but the policy is clear that we spend what we earn. For us, it is very important that we have to do absolutely the right thing.
"We have to think [many] times about it, and it might be that the player goes to another club, and we cannot change that, that's what we did so far. The club had incredible free transfers with James [Milner] and Joel [Matip] and we brought clear talents in with Robbo [Andrew Robertson] and other boys.
"I think transfers are very emotional. Fans think about it a lot with their heart, and we just have to think about it. It's not easy to ignore public pressure. It's almost like if you don't sign, you don't work, and we see it slightly different.
"We have brilliant people here who make really good proposals and we as coaches make good proposals as well and, in the end, so far we found, more often than not, the right solutions for this team."
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
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