Steve Parish has broken his silence on Liverpool’s failed pursuit of Ismaila Sarr.
The Crystal Palace chairman addressed the collapsed deal for the first time since the summer transfer window closed on September 1.
Sarr remained at Selhurst Park despite making his desire to leave for Anfield clear in the closing days of August.
Speaking to The Athletic, Parish gave his account of why the move never materialised.
“It’s unfortunate with Ismaila, but that wasn’t really a situation that was of our doing,” Parish said.
“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.”
Liverpool’s interest in Sarr surfaced late in the window, after talks over Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh stalled amid an £80 million valuation.
An opening offer of around £50 million was rejected by Palace, who insisted only an “astronomical” bid would change their position.
Parish suggested the fee Liverpool were prepared to pay did not reflect the market, drawing a comparison with Palace’s own recent sales.
“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,” he said.
The chairman acknowledged Sarr’s frustration at being denied the move, while pointing to the timing of Liverpool’s approach as a key obstacle.
“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,” Parish said.
Palace reportedly set their asking price at £75 million on deadline day itself, with Sarr said to have skipped training in an attempt to force the move through. Liverpool did not return with an improved offer.
The Reds instead turned their attention to completing a deal for Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, paying a guaranteed £106 million that could rise to £123 million with add-ons.
That transfer was confirmed as Andoni Iraola’s side finalised their business for the right side of attack.
Sarr scored 21 goals across all competitions for Palace last season, finishing as the Conference League’s top scorer with nine as the club won the trophy for the first time.
He also removed Palace-related content from his social media during the saga, a sign of how close he believed a move to Anfield had come.
Despite the frustration, Ismaila Sarr has remained part of Pierre Sage’s squad since the window shut. Palace have given no indication that a fresh approach would be welcomed when the transfer market reopens in January.
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