Liverpool tried to sign the winger when he was still only 15, but the player was not interested in leaving Anderlecht and wanted to remain in Belgium.

 

He recently made his debut for Belgium and also scored his first international goal; now Liverpool and Manchester City have both been linked with wanting Doku.

 

 

Anderlecht want to hold onto the player for at least one more season, but Van Eetvelt admitted that in the real world the club would have to at least consider selling him if Liverpool offered big money for Doku.

 

The Anderlecht CEO told Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad: “Afraid [of losing Doku]? Never. At a Belgian club, you never say that something is impossible.

 

 

“If for example, Liverpool come up with an amazing offer, we would have to look at it.”

 

Van Eetvelt refused to speculate at what price they could consider selling the teenage winger for this summer.

 

 

But the CEO insisted that the benchmark for any deal was set by Gent when they sold Jonathan David to Lille for around €30m earlier in the window.

 

“I prefer not to add any amount but Gent set the tone with David.

 

“To be clear, for the time being, there is only media speculation about Doku and Liverpool.”

 

Liverpool have refused to splash the cash this summer, with the changed football landscape playing its part.