An absolute minimum of £20million will be the price which potential buyers must pay. Souness, as reports have it, "fired the opening shots" in what can be expected to turn into an ongoing battle for the Irish footballing star. The icing on the cake, so to speak, came when he claimed that Duff should be valued at more than Rio Ferdinand.
Liverpool turned their eyes to Duff after the £9million deal for Leeds's Lee Bowyer fell through.
So far Souness has said that all the offers which have been made for Duff just haven't cut it. He wants far more than what is currently being offered, hence the newly applied price tag.
He said: "We have had two offers, and I would not blame clubs for making offers - he is a very good player - but it is going to take £20m-plus to get him out of here.
"The bottom line is that we don't want to sell Damien, and unless we get a ridiculous offer then he will be playing for us next year and the year after that."
He went on to say: "If Rio is worth £30m, then it must be the same for Duff. Traditionally, strikers who score and create goals bring in more money than defenders, so maybe Damien is worth more than Ferdinand.
"What I do know, is that we don't want to sell, so there's no way he'll be leaving here cheaply."
Unfortunately for Souness, Liverpool are insisting that although they wish to make the Irishman their fifth signing of the summer, they have no intention of paying the current asking price. £15m is their current high bid...