Ex-Liverpool talent Luis Alberto is thriving with Lazio.
Liverpool have lacked a little bit of creativity from midfield since selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in 2018, though Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain look like they could fill that void.
Some Reds fans wanted Coutinho back over the summer, as Barcelona offloaded him to Bayern Munich after just 18 months in Catalunya, and his numbers so far are decent.
He’s managed three goals and five assists for Bayern, but there’s another ex-Liverpool playmaker posting even more impressive creative numbers in Europe.
Lazio attacking midfield Luis Alberto may not be a familiar name to some Liverpool fans, but he spent three years with the club having joined from Sevilla in 2013.
The Spaniard spent most of his time out on loan, with Malaga and Deportivo La Coruna respectively, before being sold on to Lazio in 2016.
Few would have thought much of it; Alberto had only played 12 games for Liverpool, and his loan spells hadn’t really pointed towards him becoming a first-team player at Anfield.
However, he has become a star in Italy, posting consistently impressive stats, such as his record of 12 goals and 19 assists in the 2017-18 campaign – and he’s racking up assist after assist this term.
Alberto already has 12 assists this season as well as two goals, and is in blistering form creatively with six assists in his last eight games for Lazio.
The 27-year-old is a creative force playing in midfield with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Lucas Leiva, and you have to wonder whether he could now be the type of player to make an impact in the Liverpool midfield.
It’s hard to really criticise Liverpool’s decision at the time, and at the very least, Liverpool fans will be pleased to see Alberto realising his potential in Italy, but he’s a case of what could have been for the Reds.
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