Jurgen Klopp has reacted in the same way to Liverpool possibly signing Erling Haaland as he did before the Reds snapped up Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig in 2021.
Every top club in Europe has been linked with Dortmund's prized possession, who is available for his £63million release clause, which comes into play in the summer. But there are a number of hidden costs that will rule out some suitors.
Interested clubs will have to cough up nearly £50million in agent fees for Mino Raiola. A £25million commission fee must then be paid to Haaland's dad, Alfe-Inge. And, of course, the striker will be due a signing-on fee.
When asked whether Liverpool are in the mix to splash this sort of cash Klopp scoffed at the idea in a recent interview. He told Sport Bild: "We will not be going near there. The figures being mentioned out there are crazy. We have nothing to do with them. No chance. That's something I honestly don't want. That's no fun at all."
Should a rival club overlook the extortionate hidden costs then Liverpool will almost certainly miss out on signing Haaland. But this isn't to say that the transfer is now beyond the realms of possibility.
In the winter transfer window, before Liverpool landed Konate, Klopp was targetting the centre-back, alongside his then-teammate Dayot Upamecano, but was priced out of a deal.
This resulted in a rant from Klopp: "You know the situation with centre-halves out there. You know the clubs where the centre-halves are playing because everyone is talking about them. Tell me if one of these clubs needs the money and needs to sell a player?
"And if they need money then they want crazy money. I am not sure there is an £80million centre-back available at the moment and a club thinks 'We can get £80m for him so we will sell him'. The teams would not sell this calibre of player now."
Just four months later and Liverpool found that the defender was available for much less than the figure they were originally quoted and snapped up their top target.
Unlike Konate, Haaland is likely to get a transfer away from his current club at the first time of asking. And this certainly makes things difficult for Liverpool. But the Reds are certainly still in the running, even if Klopp is suggesting this isn't the case.
