So they "drop" their interest to please Southampton, but Southampton now have a player who has more or less made it clear he wants to go to Liverpool? What are Southampton gonna do come August....."Heres that player you publicly don't want....give us £60m that were you close to giving us before we made you know...drop.....oh wait, we'll settle at £40m"
Well played. £40m would still be a bit insane, but they have most likely saved themselves obscene money either by not getting him at all or getting him cheaper now.