Another underwhelming season, another summer transfer window, another rebuild at Liverpool.
Practically ever since the Premier League’s incarnation in 1992, Liverpool have transitioned from one team failing to meet expectations to another at considerable cost in the transfer market, but that trend has escalated drastically under owner John W. Henry and of course, the Reds’ much-maligned transfer committee.
Indeed, from the start of the 2010/11 campaign, in which Henry took ownership around three months in, the Reds have spent nearly £435million on 53 players, only 24 of which have not since been sold or are currently out on loan, whilst parting with a whopping 78. That’s an enormous turnover of playing personnel when compared to those who consistently finish above Liverpool in the Premier League table – the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United – and has surely caused more problems than it’s solved.
After all, can any club expect consistent success without continuity in the first team squad? Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolorov were some of City’s earliest investments following the Sheikh takeover, the vast majority of Arsenal’s FA Cup-winning Champions League guarantors have been with the club for four years or more, and the Class of ’92 served as a bedrock for United’s dominance under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Yet, with a new manager at the helm in Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool are already preparing for a summer overhaul – in fact, they’ve already made one signing in Bosman recruit, Joel Matip.
That’s in some ways inevitable and certainly not unexpected; most fresh appointments work cart blanche during their inaugural summer window, liquefying the squad before remoulding it in their own image, and Klopp’s reputation from his Bundesliga-winning tenure at Dortmund obliges the Liverpool hierarchy to allow him such freedom. Signings like Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic, Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski tell all about the Liverpool gaffer’s eye for a promising talent.
But Liverpool’s approach in the transfer market remains obvious. Perhaps a symptom of the committee, composed of five men who all have their own ideas on potential signings as well as the manager, perhaps because the Reds have found themselves excluded from the top end of the transfer market over the last decade, the Merseysiders have consistently favoured quantity over quality.
There is some logic to that way of thinking. After all, if you can’t afford Mesut Ozil’s £42million transfer fee and enormous wages, why not buy three players who have been tipped to become the next Mesut Ozil at a cost of £10million each, pay them considerably less and hope at least one eventually lives up to their heralded potential?
But Liverpool are trapped in a cycle that needs to be broken if they’re going to battle their way back to regular Champions League football, even if it comes at the expense of success during Klopp’s first full season in charge. Indeed, the coming transfer window is the one in which quality must begin to take precedent for Liverpool.
After all, despite condemnation otherwise from the media, the current Liverpool roster is by no means incapable. James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge provide the basis for a strong starting XI that could realistically contend for fourth spot, although the back five admittedly requires a significant makeover.
Once again, however, that doesn’t have to take place in a single transfer window. Although the pressure for success remains relentless in the Premier League, patience in the transfer market will pay off for Liverpool with Klopp at the helm. The German gaffer offers that pull factor Brendan Rodgers always lacked and given time, will be able attract those ‘marquee’ names that relentlessly evaded his predecessor.
No doubt, Klopp too will feel the pressure to make wholesale changes this summer. A number of players, Christian Benteke being the predominant example, seem incompatible with the philosophy he’s brought from Borussia Dortmund. But evolution can be more effective than revolution when executed properly and revolution thus far, at least in terms of playing personnel, has only seen Liverpool drift further away from top tier European football.
With a top-class manager finally at the helm and a reported £100million budget at his disposal, it’s time for Liverpool to concentrate their recruitment on individuals who will unquestionably improve the starting XI, rather than inflating the squad with speculative gambles.
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