Sometimes a rumour becomes such a mess, so quickly, that we just stare in bemusement at the screen expecting it to all make a lot more sense soon.
Suso to Liverpool is that.
On Friday afternoon, Calciomercato report Liverpool are ‘serious’ about Suso, and he’s tempted over a return to Anfield.
‘Klopp is actually thinking about Suso, all confirmed’ say Calciomercato, leaning on ‘a wind blowing from Spain’, and add this has all been further ‘confirmed’ by ‘Spanish voices’.
So off to Spain we go, looking for the voices predating the Calciomercato claims.
Marca state: ‘Liverpool prepares the return of Suso. The Anfield club are preparing to pay the termination clause of €40m to get one of the stars of Serie A. Liverpool already wanted him in January, but it was not done and will return to the charge in summer, according to Calciocomercato.’
Mundo Deportivo have similar claims, also according to Calciomercato.
El Bernabeu say ‘Liverpool prepares to pay the Suso clause’.
You guessed it, also according to Calciomercato.
So if Calciomercato are leaning on Spanish voices, and those voices are crediting Calciomercato, then where’s the earlier claims?
On Thursday the Italian website’s English version ran an article titled ‘Exclusive: Milan star, Liverpool target, has release clause of only €40m’.
The release clause isn’t an exclusive, that’s been known, the exclusive is that Milan want to sign Jose Callejon from Napoli. Right.
The first paragraph states: ‘Milan are running a bit of a risk in the transfer window: their star winger, Suso, has a relase clause of only €40 million, and the January transfer window saw an attempt by former club Liverpool at signing him.‘
That link was in the article and it feeds through to Calciomercato’s Italian site, the main one.
Now at this point one would expected the Italian article to simply be the same claims, backing up the English version, as is presented… but it doesn’t even mention the word ‘Liverpool’ and it certainly doesn’t mention the Anfield club making a January approach. It’s more about Milan and their Calleron interest.
What we think has happened here is Calciomercato’s English website have looked to make the Callejon story of more interest to an English audience, so brought up old claims about Liverpool and Suso. We’ve asked them to confirm, they haven’t answered (yet).
To be clear there’s no claim that Liverpool will return with a new effort.
Despite that, the English media have run with it and, shall we say, sexed things up a bit.
The Mirror go with a headline reading: ‘Liverpool ‘planning to meet AC Milan £40million release clause to trigger shock return for Suso’
To justify that, they link back to the Calciomercato English article, which quite obviously doesn’t justify it.
The Sun go with ‘USUAL SUS-PECT Liverpool plot £35m bid to re-sign Suso from AC Milan three years after losing him on a free’
Again, they link to the Calciomercato English article, which, again, doesn’t back it up.
And it’s these articles, based on timing, which seem to have prompted the ones in Spain, with nobody bothering to check that Calciomercato actually said what the English media claim Calciomercato have said.
Now, Calciomercato’s Italian website has claims leaning on the ‘Spanish voices’ which have leant on claims from Calciomercato English which don’t actually exist.
There may be interest in Suso, €40m is mere coppers in our crazy transfer world, but these claims are an absolute mess.
Note: On the January links it all seemed to start with a ‘what might have been’ opinion piece from the Liverpool Echo, before being twisted into something else.
