Linked stars Naby Keita and Virgil van Dijk might be bigger names, but Andy Robertson has the potential to be the most important signing for Liverpool.
Former Hull City manager Steve Bruce, back in 2015, compared the then 21-year-old Andrew Robertson to Luke Shaw who had just moved to Manchester United for a record £30 million.
Hull City’s Andrew Robertson in action with Barnsley’s Marc Roberts
Two years hence, and another full Premier League season under his belt, the fullback is about to sign for Liverpool for a fee reported to be £10m by the Mirror. That is £2m more than the fee Hull are reportedly paying Kevin Stewart according to the Sun (who, by the way, has never started a Premier League game).
Besides the fact that the deal is fantastic business in the current market, Robertson is no slouch. Despite Hull’s shortcomings last season, the left-back didn’t make a single error which led to his opponents having a shot on goal (let alone a goal). He created 19 goalscoring chances last season, that is one in every other game, not a bad number for a left back at all.
It can be argued that Liverpool have not had a dominating left back who has performed consistently over multiple seasons since John Arne Riise, and the Scottish international might go a long way in changing that.
There were too many times Liverpool lost out on points because of their inexperience from the bench. With the 23-year-old in the side, the current first choice left back James Miner can revert back to his former role of ‘Jack of all trades..’ role from the bench, or moving from midfield.
He might not be the ‘big statement’ that Liverpool fans demand, but he is a huge step in the right direction.
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp
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