A
As you say, his value is decreasing and Liverpool will want to maximise what value they can get out of him (c£25m). I can't see us spending any more than £15m on a player tops.
Hull supposedly knocked us back for £10m for Hughes this summer before Prem status confirmed and within the 5 year plan. I’d be shocked and actually worried if we don’t spend more than £15m on at least 1 player.
Sunderland bought 3 players for £20m and above last season and a few more on deals above that. Burnley signed 2 and interestingly, Leeds 0. Ipswich, Southampton and Leicester all bought at least 1 player for £20m+ in 24/25.
£25m seems a bit excessive for a player but King typically negotiates on incentive heavy deals so could see us seeing signing a player for a hefty fee but it being back ended/incentive heavy, like the Simms deal for arguments sake.
The club hierarchy will know that the squad needs a lot of work to be in a position to stay up, I still wouldn’t say we have a better squad player-for-player than Ipswich or Southampton.