Due to a FIFA rule, Liverpool was forced to postpone a prospective move for one of their top midfield targets in January
On deadline day, the Reds were quiet and failed to add a new player to their roster. The day went mostly as planned, and on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp said that Liverpool’s business for January was finished.
On January 1, they paid £37 million to PSV for Cody Gakpo, but that was the sum of of the club’s incoming transfers.
Several young players left on loan, but there were no significant departures, and midfielder Jake Cain signed a permanent contract to join League Two Swindon.
With Liverpool hoping to get their injured foursome of Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo, and Virgil van Dijk back in the future weeks and months, Klopp will now have to make due with what he has until the end of the season.
The Reds were interested in one midfielder, but a deal fell through.
Liverpool reportedly displayed interest in Matheus Nunes, a midfielder for Wolves who was unavailable for signing in January. Nunes moved to the Midlands from Sporting Lisbon for an estimated £44 million last summer.
The Reds allegedly agreed to make a subsequent bid for the midfielder after coming close to signing him before the Wolves transfer, according to The Telegraph.
Although it was said that a transfer would probably happen in the summer, it was also said that the Reds and Chelsea, who were both interested, might make a January deal.
That, however, was not realistically feasible, as The Athletic pointed out. This season, Nunes has already participated in two competitive games for two different clubs; at the start of the year, he appeared in two games for Sporting.
According to FIFA rules, a player may officially register with three teams in a single season, hence a January transfer to Liverpool may have been possible.
The rule specifies that a player can only play official matches for two clubs in a season, therefore the Portugal international would not have been permitted to play competitively for the Reds.
Liverpool would have had to send Nunes back out on loan to either Wolves or Sporting for the duration of the season even though they had the option of signing him last month.
The Reds could now aim to finalize the deal in the summer, with the midfield being a crucial area that needs bolstering. The Athletic, clearly frustrated, have stated that availability was the reason they did not progress in that area during the window.
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