Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has revealed that Liverpool's £50 million bid for winger Ismaila Sarr was never going to be accepted. The offer was made in the final week of the summer transfer window, but the Senegal international remained at Selhurst Park beyond the deadline.
Liverpool and Turkish side Galatasaray both showed interest in the player, whose agent, Diomansy Kamara, appeared to push for a move through public comments and social media activity.
Parish explains rejected bid
Speaking to The Athletic, Parish said: "It's unfortunate with Ismaila, but that wasn't really a situation that was of our doing."
"A club (Liverpool) came in and, with the amount of money they bid, they couldn't seriously think in that market it was going to get done at that level, and then they didn't come back in for him. If you're selling players for £90m and then you want to bid us half of that for the replacement, it's fine, you can do it.
"I'm not criticising anybody for doing it. But it's not going to happen."
Timing and expectations
Parish also addressed the timing of the bid, saying: "You could understand Ismaila would have liked to go and if it wasn't five days before the end of the window and the money was right, then we would have tried to facilitate it."
He added: "I don't care what (Kamara) thinks in the context of accusations against us. If any football club gets a bid for their top scorer five days before the end of a transfer window, that's going to be a difficult deal to get done."
"I would say to those representatives that the good ones would be managing those expectations with the player and not making it everybody else's fault. It's their job to get that bid earlier."
"They get paid by the player and the club and are there to help everybody oil the wheels. It doesn't help anybody when you go in the media and make unfounded accusations."
Sarr's recent form
Sarr ended last season as Palace's top scorer with 21 goals in all competitions. He also impressed at the World Cup, scoring four times and providing one assist.
An injury has limited him to two appearances from the bench so far this season. He has nonetheless been included in the Senegal squad for the current international break, with the team facing Mozambique and Ethiopia in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.
