Liverpool sealed the signing of Portugal forward Diogo Jota from Wolves for a reported £41 million ($54 million) on Saturday.
Jota has signed a “long-term” contract with the Premier League champions, which is believed to be a five-year agreement.
The 23-year-old joins Liverpool just 24 hours after they signed Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara for an initial £20 million.
Liverpool also signed Greece left-back Kostas Tsimikas from Olympiakos earlier in the transfer window.
Jota will provide attacking depth for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, competing with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino for playing time in the wide positions in the team’s three-man forward line.
“It’s just a really exciting moment for me and my family,” Jota told Liverpool’s website.
“All of my path since I was a kid and now, to join a club like Liverpool – the world champions – is just unbelievable. I just want to get started.
“They are world-class players. Every match, they try to win. They score a lot of goals and they work together.
“I want to be one more piece to join that (front) three.”
Jota claimed the move to Anfield was too good an opportunity to turn down.
“When you look at the Premier League, you always see Liverpool as one of the biggest teams in the country, so it’s impossible to say no,” he said.
“So we just want to come (to the club), to give our best and hopefully I can become a good option for Liverpool in the future.”
‘So much potential’
Jota has scored 16 goals in his last 67 Premier League appearances and Klopp believes is still not the finished product.
“He’s a player who gives us so many options to use him. He’s 23 years old, still far away from being kind of a finished article, so much potential. He has the speed, he can combine, can defend, can press,” Klopp said.
“It makes it just more unpredictable and gives us real options for different systems because he can play pretty much all three positions upfront in a 4-3-3 if we play with four midfielders he can play both wings.
“He has some natural things which we have in our game, like this desire and the greed and the direction.
“He is part of this unbelievable Portuguese generation in the moment, where they have really a lot of obviously quite skilled players.
“He knows it’s a step for him and he can give us things we don’t have – that’s why it’s cool. The space for improvement is not what I like most, but it’s there.”
Former Atletico Madrid forward Jota joined Wolves on loan in their 2017-18 Championship-winning campaign before making a permanent switch in 2018.
While Jota’s departure is a blow for Wolves, they can look forward to the arrival of 18-year-old Dutch defender Ki-Jana Hoever from Liverpool as part of the Jota deal.
“Ki will join us. He’s a young player, a player that I think really has potential, has talent. And it’s up to us to take the best out of him,” Nuno said.
Bale back
Gareth Bale sealed his return to Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan from Real Madrid. Spurs also completed the signing of left-back Sergio Reguilon from the Spanish champions for a reported fee of 30 million euros.
Bale, however, won’t be fit enough to be available for Jose Mourinho until October as he recovers from a knee injury.
Villa land Bertrand Traore
Aston Villa signed Burkina Faso forward Bertrand Traore from Lyon for a reported £17 million ($21 million) on Saturday.
Traore returns to the Premier League after starting his career with Chelsea, where he spent three years with Villa’s current assistant manager John Terry.
The 25-year-old’s signing is another boost to Villa’s attacking options after the arrival of Ollie Watkins from Brentford for a club record £28 million earlier this month.
“We’re delighted that Bertrand has chosen to come to Villa,” manager Dean Smith told his club’s website.
“He’s a player with immense talent who will really enhance our attacking options.”
Villa, who escaped relegation on the final day of last season, have also recently signed Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Nottingham Forest right-back Matty Cash.
Smith’s side kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Sheffield United on Monday.
Zappacosta back in Italy
Chelsea defender Davide Zappacosta joined Italian side Genoa on a season-long loan on Saturday.
Italy international Zappacosta has moved back to Serie A after his loan to Roma last season was interrupted by a knee ligament injury.
He recovered from surgery in time to make six appearances in the Italian top-flight before the end of the season.
The 28-year-old right-back, who joined Chelsea in 2017, has been a fringe figure with the Premier League club, making 34 starts and a further 18 substitute appearances.
Zappacosta, who has won 13 Italy caps, joins a Genoa side that finished 17th in Serie A last season.
(With AFP inputs)
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