Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has said Liverpool should have gone for Nottingham Forest winger Brennan Johnson instead of Luis Diaz from Porto.
Diaz decided to snub Tottenham Hotspur for a move to Anfield last month in a deal worth around £37.5 million up front with add-ons potentially taking the total cost of the transfer to £50m.
Johnson, meanwhile, has been tipped to become a Premier League player sooner rather than later be it with Forest or another club after a superb breakout season for the 20 year-old.
He has scored eight goals and registered five assists in 31 matches this season and Forest have failed to win only one of the games he has netted in.
Johnson was the subject of an £18 million bid from Brentford in the January transfer window and their Premier League rivals Everton, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur have also been credited with an interest in him.
Posh chairman MacAnthony, who has been at the helm of the London Road side since 2006, has suggested that Liverpool made the wrong decision in pursuing Diaz when Johnson is ready to make the step up.
"I’m happy for Liverpool to spend £50m on Diaz," MacAnthony said on his podcast, The Hard Truth.
"But I’d have loved them to have spent £28m on a player in the Championship and then that player had a sell-on clause.
"People always say that English players are too expensive.
"Well, I’m sorry but for me the Championship is as good as the Portuguese league.
"Diaz has scored what, 15 goals and got 10 assists...I could show you a couple of players in the Championship capable of that.
"Johnson will probably be just as good as this player in the future and he won’t get sold for £52m , he’ll probably go for around £20m."
