There’s been hints along those lines every year for awhile now. We didn’t spend after winning the Champions League because it was a great squad and it was better to save our money and wait till the following year. There was actually a few issues that needed fixing that didn’t get fixed till later. When Jota, Thiago and Tsimikas came in it was a great window mostly as they addressed deficiencies in our squad that were several seasons old by then but we still seemed to run out of resources to address the CB issues. Then weren’t we supposed to have rescued the transfer window 2021 by clinching CL football? I’ve given up hope of ever seeing us have this big summer. I know Covid can be the easy go to excuse but the “next summer” talk has predated the pandemic by at least 18 months if not longer.
Think FSG believe the academy will produce the fruit for us…
Just need to be patient for 3-4yrs for it to ripen some-whats… 
The problem with all the FSG scapegoating that happens whenever we hit a rut is the lack of consistency from FSG themselves. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not an apologist for them, they made a lot of mistakes as I’m about to reiterate
First we had a director of football with Comolli, the lasting legacy of which was spending too much money on not good enough players. There was rightly criticism of this approach but that did not include not spending enough, it was the way it was spent.
With the ousting of Comolli and perhaps premature replacement of Kenny, saw the arrival of Rodgers and at some point, the (in)famous Transfer Committee. This era saw the real arrival of the much lauded Moneyball, and looking back at the transfers it’s a real mixed bag. For every signing that you could call a success, there was an equal and opposite one that you’ve tried your best to forget. The consensus was that some were Rodgers signings, and some were committee signings. Again there was rightly criticism of this approach, but again this wasn’t about not spending enough, but more around other aspects of the set up.
Then Klopp arrived and everything fell into place. With a manager who actually had an eye for a player, but equal trust in the analytics being done by the guys with the laptops. The team was transformed; culminating in Number 6 and a first Premiership title. It took a while, but FSG delivered what they had promised when they arrived. And they did so breaking the Liverpool transfer record repeatedly.
Yet still there was criticism of their approach. Again it was not about spending enough, but about where the money came from (ie, from Barcelona, not from their own pocket).
Then of course we had a global pandemic where the very existence of some clubs was threatened, where the club potentially lost £100m in revenue, where the same Barca that bought all our players for us, were brought to their knees. Somebody decided to perhaps be cautious due to the unpredictable outcome of the pandemic and decided to only spend £70m on Jota, Thiago and Tsimikas in the 1st summer of Covid and only spend £36m on Konaté the year after.
But apparently all that actually equates to is that they never spend money, they don’t back the manager, “they promise next summer every summer”, even though there’s only really two when you could realistically argue that they didn’t spend. Firstly, the summer before we won the league and secondly this summer, during a pandemic where they still bought Konate, and the season has still to play out.
And all of this last lot is under a manager who doesn’t bin off players immediately, who coaches them, who looks for solutions within the squad, who gives chances for young players to develop. Who wouldn’t spend £500m on fullbacks in 5 years even if he had the chance. All the reasons why we love him and think he’s the best, but we’re also expected to believe he demands hundreds millions of pounds every year but is told to fuck off and use what he has, and he just puts up with it.
My point, which I will reiterate here as I’m sure somebody will, as always, focus on something minor that I said or got wrong, is that the perception of why FSG are so bad has evolved throughout their ownership. Until now it was never really about them not backing the manager financially, and even now when it is, that’s not really the case.
If spending cautiously during a global pandemic is their current biggest flaw, I’m okay with that. And I’ve seen enough evidence to at least giving them the chance to see who we buy this month (or more likely the summer) before putting the entire blame of injuries, covid cases, crap officiating and City’s consistency/luck all on FSG’s (lack of?) spending and condemning them for not buying anyone next summer when it hasn’t even happened yet.
Renato Sanchez maybe?
There could be some significant departures over this winter window, next summer and the following winter.
I think one thing that I want to see is some proper separation between the two more defensive CMs and the more offensive one. They could still set up as a 6 and two 8s but we seem to lose so much when we use players more natural for the 2 more defensive roles in all 3. And I’ve actually always preferred us when it’s seemed more like a 2 man double pivot with a more attacking centre mid in front of them just behind the front 3.
For me that gives us 4 attacking style players on the pitch at any time. At the moment we almost always go 1 offensive 8, 2 wide attackers and either a false 9 or more versatile floating forward.
I’d quite like to see us open our options a bit more. First looking at the 2 middle guys gives us a few options;
Option 1; 8, false 9.
Option 2; number 10/supporting striker, CF/9.
Option 3; 8 and CF/9.
Option 4; 8 or 10, floating forward.
Second with the wide roles we have 2 wide forwards bit I don’t think it’d be a bad idea to be able to use an attacking midfielder type tucked in on one side or possibly even sometimes both sides from time to time.
I think players who are under long term contract and unlikely to go anywhere and the roles they can fill are;
Elliott (8, 10, wide attacking mid left/right).
Jones (8, 10, false 9, wide attacking mid left).
Jota (floating forward, supporting striker, CF/9?, wide forward left/right).
A long term contracted player who may he sold to help reinforcements or could stay;
Minamino (10, supporting striker, false 9, wide attacking mid left/right).
Personally I’m unconvinced one way or another on Minamino and he could stay if lots of other business needs doing or be sold if we manage to extend some contracts as a way of making space/money for incoming depth/better suited options.
The players who could leave;
Salah (floating forward, wide forward right).
Mane (false 9, 10, floating forward, wide forward left/right, wide attacking mid left/right).
Firmino (false 9, 10).
Origi (wide forward left/right, floating forward, CF/9).
Ox (8, 10, false 9?!?, attacking mid left/right).
Keita (8, 10?, attacking mid left/right?).
If Keita or Ox go I’d actually be bringing in a player who can play more in the defensive midfield roles as a good option at 6 as well as a defensively conscious 8. There’s a few cheap options due to ending contracts like Zakaria but in that category it’d be Boubacar Kamara as my choice. There seems some hoohar over Camavinga and broken promises at Madrid but he doesn’t seem to be playing bad when fielded looks more like favouritism/politics or lack of rotation. Gravenberch has been an interesting player to me for awhile but not sure we will deal with his agent.
If both Ox and Keita go I’d be adding to our attacking numbers. Depending on who is staying depends on who I think we should target.
If/when Origi goes (seems this summer is likely on a free but will have to wait to see) I would target a player who can play as a traditional CF/9 type. Whether as a squad option or someone who can ideally start and score a lot kind of depends on Salah mostly.
If Salah goes we aren’t going to be able to replace both his goals and his assists with one player. I hope he doesn’t go but if he did the most obvious choice would be to bring in a CF type who can add goals and a more versatile type who can contribute assists whilst still getting on the score sheet either from a wide position or from behind the front man as an 8/10/supporting striker. This would be the most dramatic possible change to our set up.
If others are coming in, such as replacing Mane/Firmino/Minamino or something I think looking at versatility is needed. Maybe guys like Szoboszlai and/or Goncalves who have achievable release clauses are young, promising, performing at a decent level for multiple seasons and have some of the characteristics we need. Players Klopp could turn into world beaters.
Adeyami pops up a lot but unless 2 of Mane, Salah and Jota leave I’m not convinced we would need another floating forward/wide forward type like he seems from my limited knowledge. Bowen is fancied a lot, Barnes gets mentioned too but I think we would be bent over the barrell for those by the selling clubs and I’m really not convinced on the potential being there for either.
There’ll be dozens of players that at least offer some of the attributes we’d want that we could get but we need to remember the sheer quality they may be coming in to replace, we really could suffer badly if we aren’t careful. Obviously there’s also the absolute top end options that it looks like we will be priced out on due to rumoured agent fees, signing on bonuses etc. etc. like Mbappe and Haaland but I think would be era defining signings if they somehow arrived here.
Short of the near impossible dream of seeing Mbappe on the left, Salah on the right and Haaland in the middle for the next few years (with Jota challenging all 3 for playing time) I think a slightly more realistic wish list might be;
Elliott, Jones, Salah, Jota and Minamino staying.
Szoboszlai, Goncalves, Adam Hložek and a cheap punt at a reclamation project in LFC fan Dele Alli (see if Klopp can rescue his career/once high level potential) coming in to replace Mane, Firmino, Ox and Origi. And with Boubacar Kamara or Camavinga (if he unthinkably is made available so soon) replacing Keita.
We should probably be looking at Julian Alvarez from River Plate.
Seems to have a similar progression to Lautaro Martinez in terms of numbers so far.
Can play across the front 3, 18 goals and 7 assists in 21 games (transfermrkt), one year left on his contract.
Get him now, before he becomes a £70m player?
Youtube vid:
Hey that’s my suggestion 
He’s been mentioned on TAW and also Ornstein recently as someone we may like.
Would be high up my list.
Federico Chiesa.
This is the important point for me. Klopp arrived and the whole squad needed an overhaul. That requires money and you aren’t getting much for most of what you’re selling off. So you’d expect the spending to be high and investment from the owners. Then you go and sell Coutinho for a kings ransom and that allows you to spend a whole lot more again.
Now we’re in a place where, if you took the financial dopers out the equation, we’d be on target for a third league title in four years. We simply can’t compete with them financially though so it’s pointless wishing FSG would dip into their own pockets as they aren’t deep enough to win that race. What we’ve also done is started paying players a whole lot more to keep them here instead of seeing them swan off to Chelsea, City, Madrid or Barca to fulfil their ambitions. That has a knock on effect on what you can spend.
So what we have done is add strategic pieces because the need to overhaul things is no longer there but we’re fast approaching that next juncture I think. In the front three, it’s the age of the incumbents and the cost to keep them all that is going to drive the need for change. Personally I think they want to keep Mo and would therefore let Sadio move on this summer. But, if they can’t get a deal struck with Mo by the summer, then maybe he goes and Mane stays. I just don’t see us moving into next season with both of them on new contracts or either of them being here in the last year of their contracts. That necessitates the need to spend and likely big, bolstered by whatever we get for whoever goes.
Midfield is somewhat different. The issue there is partly age and partly fitness related. Milner I think is coming to the end of his playing time with us this summer. That’s one that needs replacing. Keita and Ox I think are on the chopping block but probably not both in the same window. I suspect Ox will have more interest and wants to play more and we’ll see him move on creating another midfield need.
Last summer, despite all the talk we simply didn’t move on enough players to necessitate going big in the market. Gini went but we had a lot of options in that area to pick from. Origi and Minamino didn’t find new homes and the front three weren’t going anywhere without silly money being offered. The only place that would come from where we would entertain it would be PSG and they had Messi fall into their lap.
This summer I think we’ll see more money in the market and more confidence in spending it. That plus us shifting on the likes of Williams, Phillips, Origi plus the factors outlined above that will force those changes on us I think will then result in us having our biggest window for some time and the emergence of Klopp’s team 2.0 start to really take shape. Or that’s what I hope.
Good post, I think a big part of the overhaul is the wages, not transfer fees for incoming players. Within reason I think we will always find the money for the fee.
Milner for example is on £150k a week, that could easily cover 2 new incomings.
A lot is missed how much we’ve recently comitted to with the new contracts for Van Dijk, Henderson, Trent, Fabinho, Alisson, Robbo etc. With more to come for Salah, then Mane/Firmino etc.
I read a fair bit how we didn’t replace Gini, but my view is we did the window before - Thiago, the problem is he’s unfortunately joined the sick note crew, despite no fault of his own.
I’d love us to do something like;
Salah - Sign Contract
Firmino - Sign Contract
Mane - Sell - Sign Raphinha
Milner - Leave on a free - Sign Tchouameni
Origi - Sell - Sign Bowen
Phillips - Sell - Sign Bowen
Oxlade - Sell - Sign Bowen
So next season we line up;
Replacements;
Fully agree on Thiago. being the Gini replacement. Numbers wise we should have enough players of sufficient quality in there but realistically that isn’t happening because of fitness issues.
For me that’s why I’d probably be looking at two in centre mid should Milner plus at least one other go, even if that means just doing a Mane replacement for now and keeping Taki for another season. Tchouameni would cost a bomb so you’d have to be looking at him as a starting player really. I think he’s going to be a great player though and would love him here. As I would Raphinha but sounds like he might be about to sign a new deal at Leeds. Bowen isn’t for me and I don’t see us doing him and someone like Raphinha in the same summer.
Elliot is an interesting one. He played a lot in midfield at the start of the year im not sure where he fits long term given the type of midfielders we tend to use. Jones is someone who I think needs to really kick on this season and into next year or he’s going to miss the boat here. Despite all the injury issues elsewhere he’s also been absent and missed the chance to show he can really push for that first team role.
I think at his age, Tchouameni would be happy to understudy Fab for a season, before properly challenging for the shirt the following season. At that point we might be looking to move Fabinho on anyway.
Besides the option to play both as a double pivot might be attractive.
Nope. He makes Keita look like Man of Steel.
Would be a lovely conundrum to have.
Tossing Chamberlain and/or Musialowski into a hypothetical Bellingham deal to reduce the cash paid is a possible option.
Highly doubt that Dortmund would give two damns about someone like bloody Mateusz Musialowski while trying to sell Bellingham as best as possible.
He got a freak eye injury followed by Covid, yet made more impact than say, Ox last week.
Anyway, even if he is not an elite midfielder, which, frankly, is likely the case, he can still play the same role as Milner did in Man City before joining us.
Because we’re selling him on to purchase Mbappe? tongue in cheek
Who knows but the fact remains our front three starters are all reaching age 30 and we haven’t even given Salah an extension yet.
Replacements will be needed in the very near future.
Whatever happened to LFC’s reported interest in Arnaut Danjuma? He played really well for Bournemouth in the Championship, and now he is scoring goals in a true pro league for Villareal in La Liga. I think he could be a smart pickup. Can play left wing or center forward, and he’s a native Dutchman so Van Dijk could certainly welcome him to the club.
Yes, but not necessarily for Mo and Sadio. Upgrade on Minamino and Origi for example and we become stronger.