‘Why would you?’: Carragher claims Liverpool were right to not bid for new United signing, fans might disagree

Despite reports suggesting the club are on the hunt for Virgil van Dijk’s long-term successor, Liverpool ultimately opted against bidding for Leny Yoro last month.

It’s thought that the reason they were reluctant to materialise their interest was due to Yoro’s widely-covered preference to join Real Madrid – hence why Paris Saint-Germain also cooled their pursuit.

That didn’t put off Manchester United, though. They did what Madrid were unwilling to do: meet Lille’s £58.9 million demands, after which the biggest task was hashing out personal terms with the Santiago Bernabeu-dreaming Yoro.

Whatever they proposed to the 18-year-old behind the scenes evidently worked, as before fans knew it, he was flying over to Manchester to complete a medical at Carrington before putting pen to paper on a five-year contract.

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Unfortunately, Yoro has since fractured a metatarsal, which has ruled him out for the first three months of the campaign. It’s expected that he’ll play an integral role upon his return.

While the Anfield faithful were rallying for their club to throw their name into the mix for the new Red, Jamie Carragher believes they were right to sit it out.

Carragher: Liverpool were wise to avoid Yoro bidding war

“I am glad we aren’t a team who buys players left, right and centre,” the ex-defender told Blood Red. “I love the fact that we are that. When we want to get someone, we go for him. We are clinical, and more often than not, we get it done.

“I thought that might be the case with [Martin] Zubimendi [but] it hasn’t quite happened. I think we need two or three players, that is all.

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“The Yoro one, I totally understand. Why would you pay £50-60 million for a young centre-back when we have Jarrell [Quansah], who has cost us nothing? Is he going to get enough football at our club that he would somewhere else? We have got Konate there. Do I think we need a centre-back? Yeah. But I don’t think we need a project and spending that type of money.

“If you do that, then the lad has to be playing 25-30 games a season to progress his career. I am sure that’s what they have said at Manchester United. ‘You might not be the first choice, but as soon as someone is injured, you are in, and you will get your 25-30 games’, so it was the right decision not to go through with that.”