Liverpool buying Guehi and Isak, as well as Wirtz earlier in the summer, shows how far we’ve fallen in such a short time recruitment wise.
Not because we should have bought those particular players, but because there was a time when we’d routinely acquire quality players at top PL or European clubs, and whose clubs presumably wanted to keep them, and whose acquisitions were the subject of envy across our competitors.
There’s a myth that our success has been based on acquiring players based on good financial deals, grounded in a certain acumen for talent/deals and a willingness to step away if the price is too high. As I say, I think that’s a myth. We’re not a moneyball club. Yes, we’ve had some great deals over the years (like Akanji), and yes it was out of the ordinary for us to spend £100m on Grealish. But that doesn’t mean we’re shrewd moneyball analysts.
The spine of our most successful years was built by going after ready-made, talented, statement like signings. The money paid might not have been huge in today’s terms, but:
David Silva, Aguero, Walker, Mahrez, Sane, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, Cancelo, Laporte, Stones, Dias - were not cheap acquisitions of prospective developmental talent. They were mostly ready to go, statement-like signings identified to fill certain gaps in the team. A few of them were well-known talent courted across Europe (Aguero, Silva, Sane, De Bruyne). A few were direct acquisitions from Premier League clubs who wanted to keep them (Stones, Walker, Mahrez). Others may have been less well known to Premier League fans, but were the leaders of established European sides (Fernandinho, Dias, Laporte).
On top of that, we acquired Grealish and Haaland. These were very much statement signings, showing we are top of the world in terms of buying-strength, ambition and pull. This was a signal, shortly before winning the UCL, of our ambition.
Going back as far as Hughes and Mancini, we obviously acquired competitively (even if we were not as successful on the pitch), by getting Tevez and Adebayor from direct Premier League rivals. We also bought top talent like Yaya from Barcelona.
In recent times, the approach seems to have changed. Now we seem to be making ‘smart’ transfers. Sometimes not simply to play, but to hold and then sell on for more money. I can only think the whole approach is changing because the club is favouring sustainability under the upcoming PSRs. And it’s true the landscape in football has changed where clubs need to favour sustainable, talent identification. We’ve certainly got a lot of this right. But I think we’ve lost something in the process. There are too many ‘bets’ on the pitch.
I’m sure a some of the young players on the pitch for us will develop into great players, but they wouldn’t have been starters for us in our better years. Frankly, they might have struggled to make the bench. When you consider a few years ago we were acquiring quality Centre Backs and Full Backs in numbers for fun, and were spoilt for choice ofwho to start, we now start Khusanov (a Nastasic/Savic style acquisition, who I’m sure has a higher ceiling), and Nunes (who isn’t even a right back). We’re blooding youth players (eg Rico), which is great, but it’s all a bit Brighton like. It’s not the strategy of a club that stays at the top ruthlessly, but a club that wants to stay in or around the top sustainably.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have won the league (not even consecutively) and are buying all the best players like we used to in our prime.
