Liverpool recoup £4.4m from Iago Aspas after Sevilla sign him before selling to Celta Vigo

Liverpool have received €6m (£4.4m, $6.7m) from Sevilla after the La Liga side confirmed the signing of Iago Aspas before selling him back to Celta Vigo, reports in Spain claim.

The Spanish striker moved to Anfield in summer 2013 after Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers agreed to pay around £7.7m to Celta Vigo to secure his services following an impressive 2012-13 campaign in La Liga, when he scored 12 goals.

But with both Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge ahead of him in the manager's pecking order, the Spaniard struggled to replicate that form in the Premier League, scoring only one goal while making five starting appearances in the whole campaign.

After Rodgers bolstered his attack with Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli and the return of Fabio Borini in the summer of 2014, the manager agreed to send him on loan to Sevilla, with a mandatory option for the La Liga side to make the move permanent at the end of the campaign.

Aspas scored 10 goals for Sevilla during the campaign and was the Copa del Rey's top scorer, alongside Neymar, but he struggled to secure regular time with the Europa League winners due to the presence of Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro.

On Friday 12 June, Sevilla confirmed they had activated the clause to secure the services of Aspas from Liverpool on a permanent basis, only to sell him to his former club Celta Vigo after that.

"FC Sevilla and Celta de Vigo have reached an agreement for the transfer of Iago Aspas after Sevilla FC had acquired his rights on permanent basis [from Liverpool]," the club confirmed.

And according to Spanish newspaper AS, the deal has seen Liverpool recoup £4.4m from the £7.7m they paid to Celta two years ago, meaning Rodgers's side lost £3.3m in the process. Meanwhile, Celta have paid around €5.3m to the Europa League winners to secure his services.

Just a month ago, Aspas claimed he had no plans to return to Anfield but to stay at Sevilla on a permanent deal instead.

Earlier in May, Aspas said: "I came here on a loan deal with an obligatory option to buy. I am a Sevilla player for next season. I will sit down and talk to the club in the coming days, or when the season ends. But, well, it is an open secret that everyone knew. The transfer [fee] is to be paid this summer."