When no rumors are available, fall back to Mbappe.
1 Like
Nah. No way was Virgil regarded as the worldâs best CB at Southampton when he joined us. For both Virgil and Alisson, Liverpool represented a step up compared to where they played before.
2 Likes
Unless heâs at Real Madrid or perhaps Barcelona, Liverpool is always going to be a step up for a player.
4 Likes
I think there was. If not âheâs the bestâ, then certainly âget him out of that Southampton team and playing with proper world class players and heâll be the bestâ. There was a reason why City and Chelsea were both desperate to sign him.
2 Likes
Not necessarily.
If they were desperate, they wouldâve gone as high as us or higher. It was pretty high in the end. But these clubs sign CBâs all the time.
We usually donât buy some of the worldâs best players in their best age or peak or proven winners from other top clubs, who are not starting to be a bit old anyway.
Itâs not like Realâs every transfer is an absolute Galactico and itâs not like we necessarily need them in order to compete and win, but it happens very rarely at Liverpool.
When we bought VVD it felt, rightly, as if we were buying the best CB in the world. I would have felt the same about Ali if Iâd known how good he was.
1 Like
Who was it that was regarded as the best CB at Southampton at the time?And by who(m)?
oh god it was embarrassing wasnt it?
VVD was regarded as being amongst the best defenders in the world. Every club wanted him , the reason he came to us was because he wanted to play for Klopp and Liverpool.
I distinctly remember serie A fans raving about Alisson being the best goalie in the league and one of the best in the world before him joining us.
Anyway , the point Iâve raised is about marketability of the players. It doesnât matter if VVD was or wasnât the best defender when he joined us. The point is that his âbrand valueâ canât be compared to the brand value of the prima donnas.
Liverpool have never signed a star with an eye on the commercial aspects. The commercial aspects of the buy , if there is any , is an added advantage. That goes against what clubs like United , Real behave like.
Every club wanted him? Nah. He wasnât even a full and regular international by the year of 2016 or something like that (yeah, the Netharlands can be a bit of a Brazil at times when it comes to ignoring certain players).
He was emerging, but he wasnât and couldnât be globally rated as amongst the best defenders in the world. He needed to prove it at his next step and when we pay top money, well, there are always these question marks.
City opted to go for Laporte for less money and itâs all cool, we both got it right more or less (we did even better with Virgil). Who knows what wouldâve happened if they matched or outbid our offer. We had the advantage of chasing Virgil since the previous summer, so maybe had better groundwork.
Fans raving about a player, yeah⌠thatâs only a part of what Iâm talking about. Fans were probably raving about Michu also. Itâs very wild what fans rave and stop raving about in no time.
The commercial aspect is also only one aspect that can come together with signing, pretty simply, some of the worldâs best players.
Again, itâs not like I think it needs to happen here or that it happens every summer at places like Real, Barca or City, but of course Iâd be happy if we could attract, pay or full off some of these players here and there.
When you look at the list of the 50 most expensive players ever (Iâd have to check that list again to update myself), you do realize that maybe only half of them were real successes. But thatâs the âpremiumâ you often pay to get these players.
Liverpool certainly signed many players with an eye on the commercial aspect, Iâd be very disappointed if that wasnât the case also. Although we did live in the past for many years and decades, so who knows. Itâs all important if you want to remain a big and successful club. Football comes first and itâs the biggest part of course, as it should be.
But itâs not like weâre choosing not to sign these players because we donât want the commercial aspect.
Anyway, itâs not even the absolute best players like Mbappe what Iâm talking about, but generally proven winners from other top clubs who are not too old anymore.
Youâd like to think if we remain successful and improve, we could attract more some of these players. Weâve done really well with our transfer strategy in last years, I really cannot complain at all. Just that sometimes, well, it helps to get a player who is already of high level and proven at it.
But there are certain facts and probabilities. Mbappeâs of this world usually donât come here.
Iâm pretty sure we ended up getting a more or less clear run at Van Dijk was because he was clear that he wanted Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp. But City and Chelsea both did want him, and had he shown an interest in either they would have gone higher.
It isnât always a matter of money. We bid more for Caicedo, didnât we. He didnât want to come here.
3 Likes
5 Likes
Wouldnât say it was a clear run, but surely we got there pretty early and probably did the most groundwork with him. He certainly liked our project if he ended up here, but Iâm just saying, who knows what couldâve happened if City decided to go as high as we did or higher. Itâs not impossible that he wouldâve ended up there.
We need a good transfer rumour! Otherwise itâs the Mbappe cycle, or looking back at previous transfers. Perhaps itâs testimony to how good our kids are?
I was saying we need a defender as we look vulnerable. But then Quansah and Bradley stepped in and showed us they are here, with substance. And we have other youngsters too.
Now the calculus has shifted. We still might get a defender, but when we do, it will be measured and thought out, and they will need to be really good to jump ahead of the youngsters Iâve named.
So we paid a world record transfer fee for a defender who wasnât rated amongst the best 
1 Like
Tbf Utd did pay 80m for Maguire.
We paid our record fee for a midfielder in Naby and then Szobo, were they the best midfielders in the world at the time when we signed them?
2 Likes
Yes and and sadly they truly believed he was one of the best. Perhaps the only ones who believed that.
I believe Woodward was employed to work undercover to sabotage the club making signings like Maguire, no chance they believed he was the best. I think they saw him score against them when Leicester had 10 men and thought âyep, heâll doâ
Fuck me, we really need some unreliable rumours for this thread