Liverpool are now in the swing of their summer transfer business.
Having added French defender Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig early doors for £36m, two exits from Anfield occurred this week as Marko Grujic and Taiwo Awoniyi both departed the club for a combined £17m, heading to FC Porto and Union Berlin, respectively.
With other potential exits for the likes of Nat Phillips, Harry Wilson, Neco Williams, Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri bubbling away in the background, the focus is on who comes through the door as Reds boss Jurgen Klopp seeks to address the issue coming down the tracks regarding a core group who will all be into their 30s in two years time - and at a point where they are wanting to talk about their long-term future at the club.
Many of the targets linked with the Reds in recent months have been of a certain age, with 23-year-old Houssem Aouar of Lyon and Donyell Malen, 22, of PSV Eindhoven seemingly on the radar. And given Konate has just turned 22 it is easy to see where the focus is as Fenway Sports Group seek to adopt their Boston Red Sox strategy of not having too many older players on big money and driving the average age of the squad and wage bill down through recruitment of younger players.
The latest name to be strongly linked with the Reds is West Ham United winger Jarrod Bowen, with the ECHO understanding he is on a shortlist of names that Klopp would like to bring to Anfield.
Bowen has been excellent for since his £25m move from Hull City last year, the 24-year-old playing an integral part of what was a remarkable campaign in the Premier League for David Moyes' men, the Hammers defying the odds to finish sixth and so qualifying for the UEFA Europa League this coming season. Bowen netted eight times in 38 Premier League games and his style of play drew plenty of admirers.
Liverpool are among them. And while he fits the bill for what Klopp wants this summer as a player, whether or not FSG see the value in the kind of outlay it would take to seal a deal with West Ham is another matter.
FSG don't like paying at the high watermark, that is why they place so much faith in sporting director Michael Edwards who has built up a reputation as being able to sign players yet to reach their ceiling for far less than their potential worth.
It was worked with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Andrew Robertson and Philippe Coutinho in the past, but in going for a player like Bowen the Reds are faced with an inflated price tag owing to him being an English player of the right age who has the potential for bigger things.
English players have long been overvalued in the market, something that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has alluded to in the past.
Names like Andy Carroll may spring to mind for Liverpool fans, his £35m move from Newcastle United back in 2011 a prime example of an inflated price being placed upon English players. The three most valuable players in world football at present, according to data from the CIES Football Observatory, are Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden, and there is a fair shout that Mason Mount, Harry Kane and Jack Grealish wouldn't be moving anywhere for less than £100m.
Bowen's price has already been driven high due to his £25m move from Hull, where he scored 52 goals in 124 games for the Tigers, a deal that some at the time thought was too much to pay for a talented but inexperienced player at the top level.
That deal looks to have been money well spent for West Ham, and his market value is placed by CIES at around the £40m. However, West Ham don't need to sell and they wouldn't be keen to sell to a Premier League rival, so it is entirely plausible that they would seek to double their outlay on the player if he were to go, particularly given that they have him tied to a deal until 2025 and that the club owners will be well aware of the price inflation related to English players.
The player fits the bill, and at wages reported to be around £60,000 it is certainly well within the limits for the club's payroll, but a look across Europe at the likes of £27m Malen suggests that paying big money for a player that they would be taking a bit of a risk on means that other targets may emerge.
But much will depend on who leaves the club this summer and how much they can get for their services, with the likes of Shaqiri and Wilson's potential moves important as to where Klopp decides to spend the limited transfer funds that he will have at his disposal.
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