For the first time in a long time under Jurgen Klopp, there is a strong feeling of negativity at Liverpool at the moment.
It doesn’t take a genius to understand why. The Reds have scored just one goal at home in 2021, they’re falling behind in the race for the top four and things seem to be unravelling.
However, there are some positives to take out of this season, and while the Reds aren’t likely to retain their league title, they can take solace in the fact they’ve still managed to bring in one of the signings of the season.
Indeed, bringing in Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich was an unbelievable piece of business from Michael Edwards.
Has Thiago been as good as we imagined him being? Not yet, but has he been as bad as people are making out? No way.
He’s still shown glimpses of why he made the UEFA Team of the Year for 2020, and when he turns it on, he looks a class above any other midfielder.
Unfortunately, due to injuries, he’s not been able to play in a balanced midfield very often, and because of that, we’re yet to see the best from him at Liverpool.
However, when you look at how much the Reds paid, and perhaps more importantly, how they’re paying off the fee. This has to be considered one of the best pieces of business the Premier League has seen this term.
Landing a player who finished 8th on the UEFA Player of the Year rankings last season for just £20m, with only £5m being paid up front is daylight robbery, and while he’s not hit the heights you’d expect from a player of his calibre yet, he’s still offered Liverpool more than £5m worth of value on the pitch this season.
The Reds can’t be happy with how their season has gone, but when they reflect on what they’ve done off the pitch, they have to be over the moon with landing a genuinely world-class player for an up-front fee of just £5m.
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