Sometimes in life, you just have to accept when things aren’t going your way. That’s what I’ve learned during this summer transfer window for Liverpool. We’ve missed out on several targets, paid two releases clauses and have done nothing else. The season has already started and besides our teenager Stefan Bajčetić, who’s coming back from a hip injury, we do not have a senior defensive midfielder. Let’s get into it.
The Problem
Man it hurts to type this one out. These two players pictured above are Moises Caicedo & Romeo Lavia. Both players have been recently linked to Liverpool, with one of the players even having David Ornstein tweeting about the two respective clubs agreeing on a move. These two players are now both not with Liverpool. So you see the problem here.
Caicedo, the former Brighton midfielder, is one of the best young players in the world. He was a vital piece for both Ecuador and Brighton last year. For La Tri at the World Cup, he was arguably their best player besides Enner Valencia. Constantly disrupting play and even flying up the pitch to attack at times. He did the exact same thing for the Seagulls of Brighton, as they finished sixth in the league last year.
The Ecuadorian midfielder almost didn’t finish the season under Roberto De Zerbi, as he publicly was requesting a move out of the South Coast to a bigger team. After that didn’t go through, Caicedo was consistently linked with Chelsea throughout the window. However, Liverpool came swooping into bid for him at the last minute, causing a mass hysteria amongst Liverpool Twitter.
A fee was agreed between the two clubs for a British transfer record £111m. After being stagnant in the market for almost two months, it had seemed that Jurgen Klopp had gotten his man. Wrong. After the two clubs agreed to a deal, Caicedo then proceeded to tell Liverpool, “thanks, but no thanks” as he only wanted a move to Chelsea.
Liverpool were left stunned, as they were assured by the players camp if a bid was made and agreed to, Caicedo would easily move to Merseyside. It had become apparent to Liverpool that they had been used by Caicedo’s camp as leverage to get an even better deal from Todd Boehly and Chelsea.
Seven months after asking for a move, Moises Caicedo signed a eight-year deal (with an option to extend to nine) to join Chelsea. He will join a Chelsea midfield consisting of maestro Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka. However, Todd Boehly and Chelsea just had to take one more target from Liverpool.
That target would be 19 year-old Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia. Lavia, currently under contract with Southampton, had been a Liverpool target since the beginning of July. It seemed as he was Liverpool’s top target after the Reds had secured the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Domonik Szoboszlai. Southampton, aware of Liverpools interest, set a price tag of £50m.
Now you may ask, if Liverpool were able to bid £111m for Moises Caicedo, they would’ve had no problem with buying Lavia for £50m right? RIGHT?
Well my friends, here’s what they did with this deal. Liverpool sent three different bids over a span of about a month. The first bid sent by Liverpool was worth £35m. That was quickly rejected by Southampton as they said they were sticking to their price of £50m. So what did Liverpool do? They bid two more times, valued at £41m and £45m respectively. After all of that, reports were swirling that Liverpool were pulling out of the negotiations because they didn’t value Lavia at the £50m price tag that the Saints had set.
Now class, let us go back to the Caicedo situation for a second. While Liverpool were trying to wait it out for Caicedo to change his mind, Chelsea went to Southampton and bid £55m for Lavia. The fee has reportedly being agreed, with Lavia also reportedly agreeing on personal terms with the club. Yet another midfielder on the market picking Chelsea over Liverpool. Let me remind you, three days ago, this was Lavia’s stance on the matter.
After dilly-dallying for over a month with his transfer, Lavia was probably tired of waiting it out, and signed with a club that offered a longer contract and higher wages. I can’t even blame the kid, this falls on FSG and Jörg Schmadtke, our interim Sporting Director. As for Caicedo, I can directly put the blame on him for choosing money over ambition. A fee was agreed, all you had to do was sign the contract and you would’ve been in Europe, unlike the current situation with Chelsea.
Bottom line is, Liverpool are now scrambling for answers at both CDM and LCB. After unexpectedly selling captain Jordan Henderson and our anchor in midfield Fabinho, you would’ve thought this club had immediate replacements and solutions ready. I guess not. It’s an absolute embarrassment for the club and its fans.
Meanwhile, let me try and bring up some possible solutions for our current shitstorm. Maybe that will manifest some solutions into Anfield.
The solution for CDM
Ibrahim Sangaré (26), PSV Eindhoven
Yes you are seeing that right. That is Ibrahim Sangaré with his former PSV teammate, Cody Gakpo. Sangaré stands at 6’3″ and is a strong, physical holding midfielder who has a great work rate. What’s needed in this Liverpool team at this moment is someone who can cover the length of the pitch when Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold go into attack. That’s what Fabinho was for us for several years, he was always the player to help slow/down or control the game with his counter-attack stopping tackles and physicality. He wasn’t the player I would’ve picked at the beginning of the window, but considering we now have an emergency on our hands and his release clause is only £32m I’d take him immediately.
André (22), Fluminense
To be honest with you, I don’t know much about the guy. He’s a name that had popped up recently throughout the madness. The only problem with this link is that Fluminense are highly unlikely to sell him right now as they are in the middle of their season. The preferred transaction would possibly take place in the winter transfer window next January. And for me, that just isn’t good enough right now. He’s also a little smaller than I want for the #6 position, but if he’s an efficient and aggressive ball-winning midfielder I would have no problem with the height. He’s also a bit of a mad lad and we need some craziness in this team.
Cheick Doucouré (23), Crystal Palace
In a team that Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Marc Guehi starred in… only one man was able to walk away with Crystal Palace’s Player of the Year award. That man was the one and only Cheick Doucouré. The Mali international is a proven player in the Premier League, even finishing in the 95th percentile for interceptions made per 90 (1.78). The only problem with Doucouré is the fee that Crystal Palace are demanding. When we were originally linked with him about a month ago, Palace were valuing him at £70m. While he is an incredible player, I don’t know if spending that amount of money is warranted. HOWEVER, we are in a desperate and horrible situation so if we need to spend it, and he’s the right fit, I don’t see a reason why to not do it. He’s also missed a total of four games due to injury in his football career so far. The decision-makers at this club put us in this situation, they have to dig us out of it by any means now. He’s young and Premier League proven, if we can do it we should.
Kouadio Manu Koné (22), Borussia Mönchengladbach
Koné is a player that Liverpool were targeting at early stages in the window, along with fellow Frenchman Khéphren Thuram (who I still think we should get). However, our interest cooled off when the French midfielder suffered a knee injury at the U-21 EURO’s for Les Blues. Koné is almost back to full fitness, but it is unclear whether he is going to stay in Germany or seek a move elsewhere. From what I’ve seen from his game, he is very skilled on the ball with the ability to break through the press with ease. He isn’t the fierce, physical tackler that Doucouré might be, but he surely could get the job done if needed.
Youssouf Fofana (24), AS Monaco
The Monaco man, already familiar with CB Ibrahima Konaté from the French World Cup squad, could fit into that #6 role for the Reds. The Frenchman has the versatility of being able to play both the #6 and #8 positions at an exceptional level. There’s a reason why he was selected by Didier Deschamps to go to Qatar this past winter with Les Blues. Another positive about this situation with Fofana is that his contract with Monaco expires after this season ends. The former Ligue 1 champions do have an option to extend until 2025, but Fofana has shown no interest in negotiating a new deal. With that being said, he could be a much cheaper option than the others listed above.
The solution for CB
Joe Gomez and Joel Matip have been great players for Liverpool Football Club. At the top of their games, alongside newly-appointed captain Virgil van Dijk, you could’ve made an argument that they could be mentioned among Europe’s best center-back partnerships. With that being said, it seems that the days of relying on either of them for big games are past.
After straying away from our traditional 4-3-3 under Klopp last year, we have moved to a three center-back formation while in possession. When we have the ball Trent will move into the midfield, looking to release his usual line-breaking pass, our back three consists of Ibou Konaté, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson.
On his day, Robertson is one of the best fullbacks in the world. He’s a massive presence in the dressing room and has an unbelievable work rate. In my opinion, he’s one of the best signings of the Klopp era. There’s just no way that we can continue with him at LCB. It’s not fair to the squad or to Robbo himself. What makes Robbo so special is his ability to sprint up the pitch with no regard for human life while setting up a perfect counter-attack for a goal. Now when he makes those runs, he leaves the defense way too exposed, since Trent has also already moved into the midfield. And with Fabinho now gone, as of right now, there’s no #6 to cover for Robbo when he leaves that space. What we need is a LCB who can stay back during the attack, but also be good with the ball at his feet. Here are a couple options that I’ve had on my mind recently.
Lutsharel Geertruida (23), Feyenoord
Vice-captain for Feyenoord, Eredivisie Champion and started for Netherlands alongside van Dijk. You are looking at Lutsharel Geertruida, a future star in the making. I said earlier that Liverpool need a defender to be good with the ball at their feet. For Klopp, a manager who emphasizes having a majority of the possession, that is extremely key for a defender on his team. Geertruida is that guy, as he’s ranked in the 95th and 97th percentile for passes attempted and completed per 90. And it’s not just the stats, he passes the eye test as well. The only issue I could possibly see with this deal is that Geertruida is a right-footed player, and Liverpool have stated their interest in a left-footed defender to play alongside van Dijk. Regardless of that, Geertruida is an extremely versatile player who can play CB, RB & CDM. I truly think if we signed him, he could be our next Konaté-esque signing. That’s how much faith I have in his game. And on top of all that, Feyenoord are reportedly only looking for a fee of £30m, which is very cheap in today’s market for a player of his level. After a possible deal with RB Leipzig collapsed, I think this is the perfect time for Liverpool to step in and secure his signature.
Gonçalo Inácio (21), Sporting Lisbon
Gonçalo Inácio is a player to watch for the future. The Portuguese international, who recently made an appearance against Iceland in their EURO 2024 qualifiers, is the quick-and-easy fix to Liverpool’s LCB problems. He’s a left-footed defender with a comfort like no other with the ball at his feet. Inácio turns 22 on the 25th of this month, but he still has loads of experience. He has been starting double-digit games for Sporting since he was 18 years old. The Portuguese defender also has a release clause for £40m, which can be activated at any time before the deadline at the end of August. It would help weed out any of the “middle man” troubles we’ve been having during this window. We have no choice, this move needs to happen.
Other names to watch:
CB Perr Schurrs, Torino
CM Khéphren Thuram, OGC Nice
CDM Sofyan Amrabat, Fiorentina
CM Mats Wieffer, Feyenoord
The YSN dream scenarios
Buy Youssouf Fofana for £30m from AS Monaco
Buy Khéphren Thuram for £34m from OGC Nice
& trigger Gonçalo Inácio release clause for £40m
Total Spent: £104m
OR
Buy Youssouf Fofana for £30m from AS Monaco
Buy Lutsharel Geertruida from Feyenoord for £30m
& Trigger Gonçalo Inácio release clause for £40m
Total: £100m
I know that this ownership has been known to lack ambition (cite us spending less than £10m after winning the Champions League), but this is their time to earn just a tad bit of forgiveness. They were going to go in for Caicedo at a British transfer-record price, now let’s use all of that money to give Klopp the squad + depth he deserves. Either one of those two dream scenarios that I listed above have potential to propel us into the next level again. I truly believe that.
No matter what, I will always love this club. There’s no way I could ever stop watching this team. No matter how many times I get disappointed by our spending or our post Michael Edwards era negotiations, I will always be watching at every kick-off. There’s no going back now. Let’s secure some of these signings and let’s go again for some trophies. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
There you have it! The Solution! You heard it from the best Sports Analyst, YANNI KOUIROUKIDIS! Negotiators, show us the money and give Klopp the squad he needs to win! Great article Yanni! Keep them coming👍.