Liverpool have got Luis Diaz for half the price after sealing a stunning £50m deal with Porto for the Colombian winger.
Porto were looking to raise a bank-busting £83m for Diaz - which would trigger the £66.4m clause in his contract and hand former club Junior de Barranquilla £16.6m for the 20 percent stake in the player they still hold.
But new Anfield transfer chief Julian Ward was able to drive down Porto’s demands.
Liverpool will pay £37.5m up front and have also agreed on a package of add-ons worth a potential £12.5m.
The 24-year-old has accepted personal terms on a five-year contract worth around £90,000-a-week.
Diaz’s arrival signals that Liverpool will continue to play hardball with Mo Salah over the Egyptian’s demands for £400,000-a-week to sign a new contract.
His current deal expires at the end of next season.
We understand that Liverpool were ready to wait until the end of the season to make a move for Diaz, when the future of Salah would be much clearer.
But Ward, who has recently replaced Michael Edwards as the club’s sporting director, moved swiftly after Tottenham hit Porto with an offer last week.
Klopp had made Diaz his No 1 summer target after keeping close tabs on his mercurial rise for Porto and Colombia.
Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick also coveted the winger, who finished as joint top-scorer at last summer’s Copa America alongside Lionel Messi.
But Diaz spoke to former United and Chelsea striker Radamel Falcao and ex-Everton winger James Rodriguez about his next move - and both urged him to join Liverpool.
He started his career with Barranquilla FC before moving to Junior de Barranquilla in 2017.
Two years later, Porto swooped by signing Diaz on a five-year contract after agreeing to pay the Primera A division club £6m for 80 percent of his economic rights.
The Portuguese club paid another £1.48m in transfer costs.
Porto’s owners SAD opened talks about buying the remaining 20 percent of Diaz’s rights in November but didn’t have the cash to proceed with a deal.
Sources at Anfield have confirmed that they have only dealt with Porto, Diaz and his advisers.
And that the Portuguese club will be compensating Junior de Barranquilla for their stake in the player.
Porto were warned by UEFA in December that they were facing a three-year ban from European competition if they failed to pay around £4.2m in outstanding transfer debts.
That prompted the club to look towards cashing in on Diaz.
The player is currently away on international duty.
He played as Colombia lost 1-0 to Peru in Barranquilla on Friday night to slip to sixth in the South American World Cup qualifying table.
Colombia face Argentina in Córdoba on Tuesday. The top four qualify for Qatar with the fifth-placed team going into the play-offs.
