Liverpool fans have hit back at Jose Mourinho's accusation of hypocrisy against Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.
Manchester United boss Mourinho referenced a 2016 interview with Klopp in the wake of United buying Paul Pogba for £89m, in which the German seemed to state that he'd never pay such a huge fee for a player.
But Liverpool broke their transfer record on Wednesday when they made Virgil van Dijk the world's most expensive defender at £75m . The Dutchman will officially join the Reds on January 1.
“Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players, yes," said Klopp last year.
“But if you bring one player in for £100million or whatever, and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney.
"Do I have to do it differently to that? Actually, I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.
“I want a special team spirit – I don’t feel it is necessary, I want it."
And speaking at his press conference ahead of United's game against Southampton at Old Trafford at Saturday, Mourinho referenced that interview when asked about the Van Dijk move.
"I think the ones that speak about it (big fees) in a specific way has to be Jurgen,” he said.
“And if I was one of you I would ask him about his comments about one year ago.
"Van Dijk is the most expensive defender in history of football, was he better than Paolo Maldini, Giuseppe Bergomi or Rio Ferdinand?
“You cannot say that, it's just the way the market is, and you pay or you don't pay. If you pay, obviously you pay a crazy amount of money, but if you don't, you don't have the player."
Liverpool supporters reacted negatively to Mourinho's words, pointing out that comparing Van Dijk to players serves no purpose, especially as the Portuguese himself has paid big money for players in the past.