Although Liverpool overhauled its midfield for $150 million this summer, Jurgen Klopp’s transfer surgery can’t be over yet.
This summer, Liverpool had to overthrow a successful position in Jurgen Klopp’s formerly all-conquering squad, something that had previously taken them three years to complete.
The striking trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane of the Reds once appeared impenetrable, untouchable, and irreplaceable. In his most recent news conference, Klopp would even specifically refer to the group as that.
“We had for a few years, the front three was irreplaceable,” the German acknowledged on Friday. We managed to make it happen somehow. We accomplished that.”
Since Liverpool won the Premier League, their hiring staff has accomplished the hitherto unimaginable.
Diogo Jota, who joined from Wolves for £45 million in September 2020, proved it was possible to break up Salah, Firmino, and Mane, even though Takumi Minamino’s cheap signing ultimately didn’t exactly work out. And after acquiring Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo, the Reds have been successful in finding long-term successors for the latter pair during the past 18 months.
Even if it’s uncertain precisely how Darwin Nunez will fit into Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI, adding him to the mix could have set a club record, Liverpool’s assault is now more dangerous than ever.
In actuality, the Reds have benefited from their next attack’s’soft launch’ and slow succession plan. Both Diaz and Gakpo received half a season to develop alongside Mane and Firmino, respectively, avoiding the moniker of “direct replacement” and the associated pressure in the process.
Nunez, meanwhile, is receiving the same consideration despite a transfer cost that might reach £85 million. “In a world, a crazy world where nobody gets time anymore, we somehow managed to buy some time and now we go from here,” Klopp said of the Uruguayan last season.
In actuality, this renovation is not yet finished. Salah has remained at Anfield since last summer, when he signed a new three-year deal that made him the highest-paid player in Liverpool’s history. However, because of Saudi Arabia, the
Al-Ittihad’s £150 million offer was turned down earlier this week because Liverpool’s management was convinced that Salah was not for sale. The Reds would be loathe to lose their talisman now, no matter the fee, as it is now impossible for them to sign a replacement until their own transfer window reopens in January. Whether that resolve is further put to the test before the Saudi Pro League transfer deadline on September 7 remains to be seen.
Of course, Saudi Arabia will contact Liverpool again even if they keep Salah. The most famous Muslim football player in the world, a move to a Gulf nation seems likely. The Reds would have one final opportunity to collect a sizable fee next summer, and the forward might leave as well.
Anfield has been planning a long-awaited engine-room refurbishment for some time. But the Reds decided to postpone the start of the next phase of their team development until this summer after missing out on Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid last summer and Borussia Dortmund’s refusal to sell Jude Bellingham.
That was a mistake, as evidenced by Liverpool’s troubles last season, during which they failed to make the Champions League. Consequently, they withdrew from the battle to sign Bellingham back in April after realizing they needed more than just one star new midfielder.
But even as the Reds planned numerous new midfield additions this summer, they were unsure to the extent they would need to
They are living in this reality, which is far from ideal given that they were obliged to assemble a midfield that had never played as a unit before. Starting from scratch is difficult because Klopp places a premium on on-field chemistry and the time it can take to get acclimated to his demands. In order to later move two steps forward, the club has eventually taken one step back.
On Friday, Klopp acknowledged that “we are still in that moment where we have to create something new.” On the field, critical positions now have new key players. How can we simply stay there and leave? We must fight for that. We need to work on it…
“I’m good,”
Liverpool can only hope that when such defensive surgery does, eventually, take place, they won’t be forced to overhaul everything everywhere at once, and that their new-look midfield has already fully settled in. It is yet to be seen if Liverpool regrets their failure to sign a center-back this summer.
The Reds’ managers did the unthinkable by replacing Firmino and Mane without a hitch, and they’ll try to do the same with Salah. With this midfield revamp, they will be forced to endure a rougher voyage, but they will eventually arrive at their destination.
But only time will tell if they are able to draw any lessons from these forced engine-room blunders when it comes to dealing with their next-generation defense. After overhauling both the attack and
