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Liverpool remain locked in talks with RB Leipzig over Yan Diomande, with the Bundesliga club holding out for around £112m(Image: Getty Images)It has been five years since British football made a player its first £100m man when Jack Grealish traded Aston Villa for Manchester City.Grealish, whose release clause with Villa was triggered by City, moved following a European Championship campaign where England had finished as runners-up to Italy.And since City made Grealish the first nine-figure capture on these shores, five more players have followed.In the winter of 2023, Chelsea signed Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a fee that could rise up to £106.8m. Just a few months later, the Londoners fended off strong interest from Liverpool to land Moises Caicedo for £115m, including add-ons.OPINIONThat same summer, Arsenal signed West Ham United’s Declan Rice, for £100m, making the England international the joint third most expensive signing in Premier League history alongside Grealish behind Fernandez and Caicedo.And last year, it was Liverpool’s turn to seemingly shatter their modus operandi under owners Fenway Sports Group by landing Florian Wirtz for a fee that could rise up to £116m, from Bayer Leverkusen, before making Alexander Isak the most expensive player ever in Britain at £125m.Many observers concluded that this was evidence that Liverpool, as Premier League champions, was aggressively shaking off its FSG-imposed policy of self-sufficiency.However, people inside Anfield saw it differently: last summer’s £440m spending spree was largely financed by a lack of spending in the four previous transfer windows and the Reds also recouped around £200m from player sales.Liverpool, historically, have always fronted up the big fees for players they believe are worth it and eight years on from their respective £75m and £65m signings, the transfer fees of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker are no longer a talking point. Get it right and the discourse around cost falls silent.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated LFC Facebook pageIt’s largely why Anfield’s key decision makers, like sporting director Richard Hughes and FSG’s CEO of football Michael Edwards, are more than comfortable with making Yan Diomande another eye-wateringly expensive signing.Liverpool made it known they are willing to put together a package worth up to £86m for the Ivory Coast international, which would net German club Leipzig €100m when converted.However, the Bundesliga club are reluctant to sell and are holding out for closer to €130m, which would cost Liverpool £112m. With a £26m gap in valuations as things stand, some negotiation will be needed before a decisive breakthrough is made.Big-money fees, of course, are nothing new in the Premier League. While there may ‘only’ be a half dozen players purchased for £100m or more, it’s certainly a level of outlay the elite clubs are becoming more at ease with handing over for the right talents.In the most recent financial results, published in February, Liverpool posted revenues that broke the £700m barrier for the first time in English football history.The Reds’ bottom line came in at £703m, which saw them top the Deloitte Money League for English clubs and fifth across Europe, behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.With £100m players like Wirtz and Isak signing six-year deals as opposed to the standard five, Liverpool have an extra year to amortise the cost of those transfers, bringing down the fee that is being paid annually as a result.It’s largely why Chelsea have been so keen to sign their players to long contracts, like Caicedo, who penned an eight-year deal when he joined from Brighton. That means the Londoners are paying £14.3m a year off from the Ecuador international’s transfer fee.Such a practice means a six-year deal for Isak is costing Liverpool £20m per year, which, when the annual revenues are reaching £700m, is seen as a manageable enough fee at Anfield.It’s why Liverpool are willing to once more pay close to £100m for a transfer target in Diomande.Over the course of what would also be a six-year contract for the 19-year-old winger, a rough outlay of £16m per term won’t unbalance the financial equilibrium if revenues of around £700m are being generated annually.Of course, these figures don’t operate in a vacuum and the Reds’ post-tax profit on those recent financials stood at just £8m. But given their model, where virtually every penny is reinvested, a small profit indicates that there is a healthy operation behind the scenes.Qualification to the Champions League has also been an important factor, enabling the club to spend at a different level given the financial security of a revamped competition that earned Liverpool just shy of £97m for their charge to the quarter-finals last time out.Liverpool’s desire to continue growing off the pitch led them to announce a new senior vice president of marketing & digital this week.Hannah Pym will now be tasked with overseeing further upticks in departments such as marketing, media, product and technology, as well as further strengthening the club’s global marketing and commercial ambitions.Commercial revenue increased by £15m in the most recent financial results, accounting for £323m of that £703m figure. Media revenue also rose by £60m to £264m and the jump on the bottom line from the previous set of results was as much as £89m.It will largely be Pym’s job to further build up those numbers as the club explores ways to drive revenues further in a competitive market.It’s often difficult for supporters to see the correlation between off-the-field appointments and the addition of commercial partners to forward strides on the pitch but as Liverpool continue to negotiate for someone who could yet become their third £100m player in Diomande, it’s clear what the end game is at Anfield as the squad building for Andoni Iroala continues.Get YOUR Liverpool FC NewsletterGet the best Liverpool FC news and analysis straight to your Inbox courtesy of the Echo!It’s as simple as 1-2-3.Open the Echo’s newsletter preference centre RIGHT HERE.Open up Sport.Choose Liverpool FC and hit Subscribe.

The pub is named after the famous cannon that once boomed across the city every afternoonThe One O’clock Gun in the Royal Albert Dock. Pictured Rob Swift, operations manager(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)Standing proudly on Liverpool’s historic Albert Dock, The One O’Clock Gun is more than just a waterside pub, it’s a reminder of the city’s maritime past. Housed within the Grade I-listed Britannia Pavilion, part of the world’s first non-combustible warehouse complex, the venue, which opened in 2021, sits among the same brick, stone, and cast-iron structures that helped make Liverpool one of Britain’s most important ports.Named after the cannon that once boomed across the city every afternoon, signalling one o’clock for dock workers, sailors, and residents from 1867 until 1969, the inspiration behind the pub is firmly rooted in Liverpool’s history. Today, while the ships and warehouses serve a different purpose, The One O’Clock Gun is a popular stop for visitors and locals looking to enjoy a pint in one of the city’s most iconic waterfront locations.The pub’s operations manager, Rob Swift, 36, from Heswall, chatted with the ECHO about breaking into the industry, how customers can support their local, and the importance of giving new visitors to the city a “Scouse welcome”.Operations manager of The One O’Clock Gun in the Royal Albert Dock, Rob Swift(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)How did you get into the pub industry in the first place?My first ever job was a kitchen porter, but I always had an interest in cocktails from a very young age. My first cocktail bar job was at Alma De Cuba.I’ve been the operations manager at The One O’Clock Gun for around eight months, but I’ve worked for the company for about 10 years. I started as a bartender at Ma Boyles, and then I’ve kind of done everything you can do in a lot of different sites. I like the atmosphere you get from a nice pub or bar. I’ve got a love for pubs like any good Brit.What is the significance behind the pub’s history/name?When you’re walking around the docks, you can see a gun located on the inner quay. It would be fired at 1pm [to allow ship’s captains and dock workers to synchronise their time pieces].I believe it [the pub building] was originally a leather shop that sold bags and belts, but this is the first time it’s been completely revamped into a pub.The ‘Snug’ inside The One O’Clock Gun in the Albert Dock(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)READ MORE ABOUT LIVERPOOL PUBSWhat’s your best-selling drink?We sell a lot of Guinness and Cruzcampo. We’re very sort of pint-heavy. There’s nowhere better than the Albert Dock for a pint on a sunny day. When you look towards the inner quay towards the Tate, and there’s a little gap in the buildings, the sun will come down. There’s nowhere better to sit.What is it about your local community that you love?We have a few regulars. Our main one is a guy called Tony, who comes in most days and has two Cruzcampos. He’s a lovely fellow who lives close by.The thing with the Albert Dock is that it’s a very touristy spot, so we get a lot of tourism, so it’s really important to us that we show people good Scouse hospitality.Inside The One O’clock Gun in Liverpool’s Albert Dock(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)A lot of the time, we get visitors where it’s the first time, they’ve stepped into a British pub or a Liverpool pub. Sometimes, we get people off the big cruise ships, and we’re the first impression of what Liverpool is like, so we want to be a good introduction for people.Being on the docks, there’s not as much housing around here as there is in a suburb, so we don’t get as many regulars as you would in other pubs, but we still have a few who live around here and come in, and they’re great.We pride ourselves on our hospitality, warmth, and authenticity. Sometimes pubs can feel a bit transactional, but we definitely try to make people feel welcome when they come in by having a chat and providing that old-school kind of hospitality. I think it’s really important nowadays, especially with people not going out as much and having as much disposable income.The One O’Clock Gun in the Royal Albert Dock(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)How can people support their local pub?Just by getting down to them and embracing them. It’s a hard time for hospitality, and we know that people have to choose whether they go out a lot more now. So when you do decide to go down to a pub get involved in the atmosphere, have a chat to the people on the table next to you. Trying to create that community is really important.Also don’t be afraid to try something new, it’s never too late to try a Guinness.That community base is really important. Being a flagship for people entering Liverpool for the first time, we want them to have a good time and see what the city is about, even if it is just a little pint in the pub.Do you want your pub or know a pub that deserves to be featured as the Liverpool ECHO’s next Pub of the Week? Send an email to rebecca.mcgrath@reachplc.com