Simon Jordan claims Liverpool would never sign 'flash' Premier League star

Liverpool has long since had a reputation as a smart operator in the transfer market. And the club has been held up by former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan as an example of a side who would never have signed a "flash" player currently at a big-six rival.

There have admittedly been one or two high-profile setbacks for Liverpool's transfer department in recent times. The latest came this summer, when Martin Zubimendi opted to stay at Real Sociedad rather than make the move to the Premier League.

He joins a list of unsuccessful moves alongside Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni and Moises Caicedo, with Liverpool having struggled to find the answer at the base of its midfield over the past few years. But Ryan Gravenberch is doing his best to trivialize those failures, and the signings Liverpool have managed to complete still make for pretty great reading.

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Darwin Nunez is in danger of becoming the first really expensive failure in a very long time, but beyond that, Liverpool's hit rate has remained pretty high even through a period of churn behind the scenes. Now, with Michael Edwards back in the FSG fold and Richard Hughes installed as sporting director, we can hope for some more stability and certainty.

And the Reds have clearly come through the turbulence with their reputation still intact within the industry. Jordan, who now works as a pundit, has name-checked Liverpool as a side which ruthlessly prioritizes players who will have a tangible impact on results.

Speaking on his Up Front podcast, Jordan said that he could not see Liverpool ever going for James Maddison. He believes the Spurs star is ultimately a "flash" player:

“Maddison, I think he’s a great player, I think he’s a great player, but he’s a bit flash for cash,” Jordan said. “I think he’s a great Tottenham player, but I don’t see Liverpool buying Maddison.

"I wouldn’t see Arsenal buying Maddison and I wouldn’t see Man City buying Maddison, but I see Spurs buying him. Spurs have always had players with great quality, but we’re talking about culture."

Liverpool was actually linked with Maddison before he signed for Tottenham. But for all his quality, it is hard to imagine how he would have fitted in at Anfield, either under Jurgen Klopp or Arne Slot.

Ultimately, talent is taken as a given for anyone whom Liverpool is taking a genuine look at. It's all the other factors about how they will fit into the team and influence the final league finish come the end of the season that determine whether the Reds go ahead with a move — and perhaps that's why they remain well ahead of Spurs when it comes to challenging at the very top.

Liverpool.com says: Liverpool has missed out on a few players recently, but that's partly because it has pursued perfection. There comes a point where compromises are needed, but it's also a positive that the Reds have an unshakeable concept of what is needed to genuinely improve the side in a tangible way.

Maddison's availability after Leicester went down undoubtedly put all of the top clubs on alert. But Liverpool does not make moves for the sake of it; for all the talk of opportunism in the summer just gone, the player ultimately still has to be right.

That means more than just talent. Even amid a change of managers in the summer, Liverpool has maintained a clear identity, and only those who feed into that vision can hope to come to Anfield.