Last Friday, as several of their rivals desperately scrambled to get deals done ahead of the transfer deadline,
Liverpool’s core triumvirate were far removed from the mayhem while discussing their summer window strategy over dinner.
There was an overriding message underpinning the conversation between manager
Jurgen Klopp, sporting director
Michael Edwards and
Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon: Do not get sucked into abandoning the principles that have got the club to this point.
The reigning European champions and world champions, who command a dizzying 22-point lead atop the
Premier League as they edge closer to ending a painful three-decade wait for the title, are cocooned from the rapture surrounding their record-shattering season.
It is why the players continue to claw for victories even though they can afford to lose games. And why the decision-makers have the clarity of thought to know now is not the time not to make mistakes that jeopardise what Liverpool have sagely constructed.
There is an appreciation that there is a massive difference being at the summit versus playing catch-up in trying to reach it, but there will be no significant alteration to the methodology that has restored the club as a domestic and continental powerhouse.
Anfield is now a destination and it is testament to Klopp’s tenure, the work of the recruitment team and the support of FSG that the game’s most gifted talents aren’t just solidly linked with Liverpool, but enthusiastically speak about the Merseysiders too.
That obviously brings expectation, much of it unrealistic.
So, let’s get straight into it: do the league leaders have an interest in
Kylian Mbappe,
Jadon Sancho and
Kai Havertz? Of course they do. It would be utterly ridiculous for them not to.
This writer
first reported on Liverpool’s scouting of Paris Saint-Germain’s phenom in February 2016 when he hadn’t yet signed professional terms with Monaco, and by that point, the dossier on him had been drafted around 16 months earlier.
Liverpool would have recruited Sancho from Manchester City in the summer of 2017 if trade between the clubs was possible, while Havertz is a player that Klopp and Edwards may as well have stylistically stitched together given his ticking of their requirements.
Interest, though, is only the starting point and a tiny part of transfer thinking. The recruitment team and Klopp are big admirers of Heung-min Son and Marcus Rashford, as examples, but that interest is immaterial given neither are available to them.
Plausibility and cost are therefore bigger determining factors. Do Liverpool have the financial muscle to secure these brilliant youngsters?
Yes, on account of the surgical work done in the market in recent years – a net spend of around £74.5m since Klopp’s appointment in 2015 – as well as the funds generated from on-pitch success and ballooning commercial gains.
However, the club are aware they have navigated to this position by being responsible and will continue to do so. Business will be determined by what the team needs – the ultimate influence – rather than the buzz surrounding high-profile players.
Take Havertz, who has been priced upwards of £80m. That is considered to be nearly double his market value by Liverpool and so there has been no attempt to start a process over securing him. They like him, but not at that price. They like him, but they don’t need him – certainly not at that price.
Sancho and Mbappe are in the same bracket, albeit with greater valuations, and a huge transfer fee is accompanied by a huge salaries which has a knock-on effect on the rest of the squad.
Unless Liverpool lose one of their pedigreed front three – a situation they are not expecting this summer with none of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah or Roberto Firmino showing any intent to exit – there isn’t room for a blockbuster attacking purchase.
The other point to make on the players being linked to Liverpool is that anyone could suggest the signing of the trio mentioned in this piece.
You do not need to be a skilled sporting director to conclude that Sancho, Mbappe and Havertz are targets to consider. And, as proven, Edwards and his recruitment team don’t often plump for the obvious choices armed with the information from their research group, led by Ian Graham.
They were pilloried for advocating a £29m deal for Firmino, pushed the pursuit of ‘Chelsea flop’ Salah, found Andy Robertson to solve Liverpool’s long-standing left-back issue, attracted criticism for signing Sadio Mane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gini Wijnaldum and recently trumped rivals by activating Takumi Minamino’s release clause before it was widely known.
The two duh! moves made by Edwards was to land Virgil van Dijk and Alisson – players who were seen as “transformers” and committed an all-in approach from the club.
Liverpool believe there is no option on the market that fits into the pair’s territory this summer given the shape of the squad.
The club’s priority is to lock down the world’s best centre-back and goalkeeper for the long-term with both wanting extended contracts. Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have signed new deals in the last 13 months. Continuing to retain and reward an outstanding rearguard is not cheap.
There are legitimate calls for Liverpool to bring in cover at left-back and they had looked into doing that last July. Borussia Dortmund’s
Raphael Guerreiro was their target and he would have cost around £17m, with a salary in the region of £60,000 a week.
The club decided it was not the best use of money as Robertson would only be out of the starting XI due to injury, suspension or rest with James Milner and Gomez able to provide cover while Yasser Larouci’s development is monitored.
It is similar on the other flank where there is no desire to bring in a deputy right-back that’ll fetch £30m+ with Neco Williams emerging. Klopp feels adding variety to his roster is more essential than having largely dormant understudies.
Liverpool rate this no-wastage policy allows them to be flexible enough to react if there is a need to bring in a game-changer.
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