Striking differences in Liverpool and Man City's big-money deals for Nunez and Haaland

With England’s two best teams having simultaneously decided to finally bring in out-and-out No 9s, it was perhaps inevitable that direct comparisons would be drawn between the deals.

Liverpool and Manchester City have broken with tradition by signing Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland to lead the line after building their recent successes on strikerless systems.

And it has not gone unnoticed that the two clubs are both likely to end up shelling out between £85-100 million for their new centre-forwards once add-ons and agent fees are factored in.

In truth, though, any similarity between the transfers ends there, with Haaland’s reported wage packet of £375,000 a week inflating City’s overall outlay in the years ahead.

Meanwhile, the fact that Liverpool have secured Nunez on a contract understood to be worth £140,000 a week serves as a particularly handy encapsulation of the club’s current transfer strategy.

Liverpool's preference for striking high-fee, relatively low-wage deals was evident in the recent signings of Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz, both of whom played a key role in last season’s quadruple near-miss.

It would also have underpinned one of the biggest deals of last summer had the Reds won their last battle with Manchester United for the signature of a coveted forward.

MANAGER: Jurgen Klopp – 9. A year ago the manager looked a broken man. Personal and professional problems made 2020/21 a difficult campaign. Last season he recovered his bounce and his deployment of the squad while competing on four fronts was superb. The added bonus for the Kop is he has extended his contract until 2026. A triumph of a year, even if the two biggest trophies got away from him. Getty Images

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