Liverpool will be hit with a £12million bill from Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer as they continue to pay off the transfer fee for Diogo Jota.
The forward joined the Reds at the start of the 2020-21 season in a move worth £45m, but with payments put in place over time in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Telegraph, the Reds’ will pay the £12m having only paid £4m on completion of the transfer and a further £1m last December, meaning that £40m is still due to the Molineux outfit.
Diogo Jota joined Liverpool from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £45million last summer
The trickling nature of the payments will be a big boost to Wolves’ finances given the income uncertainties in light of supporters having been excluded from stadiums for the vast majority of the season.
Further guaranteed instalments will follow over the next few years to eventually complete part of the £45m agreement.
Jota returns to Molineux on Monday night for the first time since departing last September as he seeks to get the Premier League champions back to winning ways.
The forward has impressed Jurgen Klopp in his first season at Anfield despite injury problems
Jota had previously been a star in Wolves’ rise from the Championship to the Premier League
Jurgen Klopp’s side head into the clash with six defeats from their last seven Premier League matches, which have seen them go from title contenders to outsiders in the race to secure a Champions League place within the top four next term.
Jota, who only this month returned from a knee injury that kept him out since December had otherwise enjoyed a good first half of the campaign, netting nine goals from 20 games.
Ahead of his return to Wolves, where he scored 44 goals in 131 appearances, his former Molineux boss Nuno Espirito Santo praised the impact made by the 24-year-old during his three years at the club. Nuno said that supporters would have given him a welcoming return had they been allowed to attend.
‘I am absolutely sure that if Molineux was full of our fans he would have a huge reception because what Diogo did with us was amazing, fantastic, beyond words’, Santo said.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo is looking forward to a reunion with Jota on Monday night
‘He is truly admired by the fans because he gave everything he had for Wolves.
‘He joined us in the Championship coming from Porto, he put his life, he put his heart here, and that can never be forgotten.
‘He went to a fantastic club, now he is healthy again, playing again, smiling. I wish him all the best. If I see him before the game, I will hug him strong and at the end I will hug him no matter what happens as I have a big admiration for him.’
Wolves have not beaten Liverpool since their return to the top flight in 2018 and have struggled in Jota’s absence, amid a disappointing campaign that sees them head into Monday night’s clash 13th in the table.
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