Why Liverpool’s business isn’t the disaster everyone says it is

The Premier League is back in full swing and the Reds have made a positive start to their domestic campaign. A solid draw away to Chelsea was followed up by a 3-1 victory at home against Bournemouth giving Liverpool a good platform to build on in the early stages of the league season. Jurgen Klopp’s side are taking care of matters on the pitch but where things look less composed is in the transfer market. One of the hallmarks of the John Henry era has been excellent recruitment. The introduction of world class talent into the side such as Virgil Van Dijk, Mohammed Salah, Sadio Mane and Alisson Becker established Liverpool as one of Europe’s elite clubs and helped bring six major trophies to Anfield in the last four years. However, the lack of activity in the last few windows combined with the calamitous events of the past week or two shows that the club’s former meticulous and careful approach to the transfer market has disappeared at a crucial stage. There’s still time to fix the mess left in the wake of some pretty absent-minded business decisions, but the clock is ticking and the question remains, will the club be suffering the repercussions of their mishap for the rest of the season? 

Caicedo calamity

In simple terms, the club hit the panic button and it didn’t pay off. The German boss is in the midst of his biggest rebuild of his tenure at the Merseyside club and has a particular focus on filling the conspicuous hole in his midfield. His engine room was left short last season with Thiago’s long spell out with injury and Fabinho’s sporadic form, but now he has been forced to bring in some fresh faces with a number of key personnel leaving this summer. Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are just a few names to leave for the exit so far and while all failed to make much of an impact last term, their departures mean the midfield remains the top priority this transfer window. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai’s arrivals strengthen Klopp’s options but he was still on the hunt for a holding midfielder to form a solid base in the middle of the park from which to mount his title challenge. While the quality of players Liverpool have gone after has been in keeping with Klopp’s standards, what hasn’t been consistent is the application of their transfer strategy. After the club’s pursuit of Jude Bellingham was brought to an end earlier this year on account of the financial burden acquiring his service would have brought, it seems odd to have then resisted meeting the £60 million price tag put on Southampton’s Romeo Lavia. Stranger still is their response to that saga, suddenly bidding a British record transfer fee of £111 million for Ecuadorian international Moises Caicedo. The club proceeded to miss out on both of them as Chelsea swooped in to attain both midfielder’s signatures with the lure of Todd Boehly’s cheque book proving too much for Liverpool to compete with. And in a cruel twist of fate, the 21-year-old was outspoken about wanting to sign for Chelsea instead of the Reds, stating that he ‘didn’t think twice’ when making the move. It was a series of events that highlighted a desperation to improve the side ahead of the new season and all in all, that’s not a good look for the club. 

What now? 

While there would have been plenty of red faces walking about the offices of Anfield the morning after Lavia and Caicedo signed on the dotted line at Stamford Bridge, it by no means spells the end of Liverpool’s excursions into the transfer market, nor their title challenge for that matter. Liverpool are still a short price to win the league and betting sites with fast withdrawals are still offering around 8/1 for Liverpool to win the league. The backup option the club opted for in Lavia and Caicedo’s stead may yet prove to be a blessing in disguise. Japanese international Wataru Endo signed for Liverpool on a four-year deal for a transfer fee of £16.2 million and while many will dub this a ‘panic buy’ or ‘emergency solution’, it is actually an astute piece of business. Aged 30, his arrival signifies a breakaway from the profile of players who have generally typified the club’s recruitment process. The benefit is he is a seasoned veteran who can come in and do a job right away without having to deal with the nerves and expectation of a big money move that a younger talent might be subject to. In terms of his play on the pitch he is an aggressive presence and on-field leader with versatility in switching between midfield and defensive roles when the situation calls for it. All things considered, he is a great get and without the context of the Caicedo and Lavia snubs lingering in the background, this business would likely be compared to that of the Mac Allister deal earlier in the summer as an ingenious purchase for good money. If there are still any lingering doubts then look no further than his unexpected debut against Bournemouth last weekend. He slotted in seamlessly under pretty horrible circumstances after Mac Allister’s red card having had only one training session. It’s been a whirlwind but how well he has adjusted to life at Anfield in such a short amount of time under immense pressure is testament to the quality player he could be for the Reds this season. 

Where does this leave Liverpool’s title challenge?

It has been a bumpy road for Liverpool this transfer window and a less than ideal way to start a new campaign. With something to prove after last season, Klopp could’ve done with finishing up his business early doors and working with the squad in the preseason to hit the ground running. While that scenario has failed to manifest, when the dust settles Liverpool fans will still probably look back on this window as a successful one with a few major scares along the way. The manner in which the club has conducted its business has been far from composed but what they’ve ended up with has arguably been exactly what they needed. All areas of the pitch are looking stronger than they did last year and form seems to be picking along with it. Liverpool are expected to improve on last year’s performance and given the quality additions they’ve made this summer, that could be in the form of a significant challenge to City’s reign as Premier League champions

 

Written by Alan Spencer