Liverpool £5m signing was fined for joining, forced out-of-court settlement and sold after one season

Blood Red: Nat Phillips Seals Liverpool Exit As Loan Fee & New Club Confirmed

Lampard confirmed as Everton manager

Blood Red: Fabio Carvalho | Player Profile | Liverpool Transfer Target

Frank Lampard announced as Everton manager

Mohamed Salah sends Egypt through to quarter finals | Liverpool FC at AFCON

Blood Red: Liverpool Complete £49m Signing Of Luis Diaz From Porto

Blood Red: Where would Fabio Carvalho play in the Liverpool Starting XI?

Few people would argue with the suggestion that Liverpool have one of the best transfer operations in the business.

Sure, most supporters would rather they spent more money whenever the window is open, but their signings have been as close to flawless as is realistic over the last few years.

Even then there have been missteps. The club had to publicly end their interest in signing Virgil van Dijk in the summer of 2017 after Southampton accused them of making an illegal approach.

It wasn’t the first time Liverpool had got into hot water for this sort of thing either, albeit the most high-profile previous example occurred 17 years earlier.

In the summer of 2000, the Reds signed Christian Ziege (who turned 50 this week) for £5.5m from Middlesbrough.

He had won two Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Cup with Bayern Munich, Serie A with AC Milan and Euro 96 with Germany, so had serious pedigree.

The problem, at least for Boro, is that his club had received offers of £8m for the player, yet Liverpool were somehow aware of the lower get-out clause in Ziege’s contract.

The player was fined £10,000 for his part in the transfer, the Reds’ initially £20,000, and four years later it was revealed Liverpool had settled the matter before it reached the high court, which had been on the cards.

The Reds'