Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at risk of being this year’s Moussa Sissoko

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Tottenham midfielder was the flop of the season in 2016/17. Liverpool signing is now an early contender.

Tottenham Hotspur’s move to sign Moussa Sissoko last summer looked like a panic buy at the time – and 12 months on it still looks the same.

Spurs may be getting more use out of Sissoko this season, but he is yet to get anywhere close to justifying his £30 million transfer fee, and made just eight league starts in his debut campaign.

You may think that Premier League sides had learned the perils of splashing big money fees late in the transfer window by now.

Liverpool, once haunted by the £35 million failure of Andy Carroll, will hope they have not done it again.

They paid £35 million to Arsenal at the deadline to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has proceeded to look terrible in his brief appearances so far.

Liverpool’s move bears similarities to Tottenham’s switch for Sissoko.

• They beat competition for his signature, from Chelsea, while Spurs saw off Everton’s interest.
• Sissoko and Oxlade-Chamberlain do not improve their team’s starting XIs. It is unclear where exactly their best positions are. The money has essentially been invested in a squad player.
• Tottenham are no better off having signed Sissoko, and the concern is Liverpool will be in the same boat with Oxlade-Chamberlain.
• Neither players are prolific scorers or creators, and will struggle to instantly justify the outlay.
• Fans were sceptical from the start, and poor initial performances have put them under early pressure.

Oxlade-Chamberlain at present is the clear leader in the clubhouse to be cast as the flop of the 2017/18 season.

It is harsh after just a couple of games, but against Leicester City in the cup he was so terrible that it is impossible not to consider that Liverpool have made an expensive mistake.

The Reds may only see the best out of Oxlade-Chamberlain next season after a full pre-season under Jurgen Klopp.

The problem is that next summer Naby Keita will arrive at Liverpool from RB Leipzig, and make Oxlade-Chamberlain’s pipedream of emulating Steven Gerrard even tougher.

The pressure already is on the Liverpool ace to start convincing, and ensure that his debut season at Anfield is not seen as an expensive flop – but as a roaring success instead.