Liverpool set to pay £12m instalment to Wolves for Diogo Jota

Wolverhampton Wanderers are set to receive a £12m instalment from Liverpool this summer, as part of the deal which saw Diogo Jota swap the West Midlands for Merseyside back in September 2020.

News of the upcoming payment update was reported by The Telegraph ahead of Jota's first return to Molineux since his move to Anfield.

It's revealed that, despite the transfer being worth a total of up to £45m in total, the payment for the forward was structured with the impact of Covid in mind.

Jurgen Klopp's side only paid £4m up front last summer, followed by another instalment of £1m in December.

At a time when football clubs are having to deal with the financial impact of fans not being allowed into stadiums, the injection of cash will certainly be helpful to Wolves.

After a great start to life with the Reds, Jota suffered a knee injury that saw him miss 19 games but returned to Premier League action for the recent defeat to Chelsea. In 20 appearances for the reigning champions so far, he has scored an impressive nine goals.

Nuno Espirito Santo will be well aware of the threat his former player poses, Jota managed 44 goals in 131 appearances during his time with Wolves.

Liverpool are in desperate need of three points if they're to close the eight-point gap between themselves and Chelsea in fourth place.

Jota is in contention to start for the Merseysiders and given the front line have been misfiring of late, Klopp and the supporters alike will be hoping he can put his former club to the sword on Monday night.

Ahead of the upcoming clash, Liverpool fans can take encouragement from the fact they're yet to lose to Wolves since they were promoted back into the Premier League and their opponents are traditionally slow starters - only Sheffield United have scored fewer first-half goals.