Liverpool Transfers Uncovered: £185m spent on mid-table stars… now is Klopp's turn to buy

In years gone by, it was always Liverpool’s way to pick off the best of the rest in the transfer market.

 

Can Jurgen Klopp bring better players to Anfield?

 

The results were usually as stunning as the performances.

John Aldridge and Ray Houghton arrived from unfashionable Oxford United at different times in 1987 and promptly helped shape one of the most entertaining title winning sides in the club’s history.

Peter Beardsley had signed in that same summer from Newcastle, who had finished 17th to Oxford’s 18th place in the old First Division in 1986-87.

 

Go further back to Craig Johnston came in 1981 from a Middlesbrough side that had just finished 14th and Graeme Souness also moved from Teesside in January 1978 with ‘Boro 12th in the campaign previous.

Mark Lawrenson came from a Brighton side which had avoided relegation by two points 35-years ago.

These days the policy does not work quite so well.

 

In the last five years, Liverpool have spent £177.5m on players from teams currently ensconced in the Premier League’s middle to lower reaches.

The current bottom three in the top flight – Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle – have banked £118m of that grand total.

Aston Villa (£52.5m from Stewart Downing and Christian Benteke), Sunderland (£25m from Jordan Henderson and Simon Mignolet) Newcastle (£40.5m from Andy Carroll and Jose Enrique).

 

The link with Southampton has been particularly rewarding for the St Mary’s club, currently 10th in the table, with Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert accounting for the remaining £59.5m. 

Throw in the £7m spent on Charlie Adam at Blackpool and the overall figure rises to just under £185m.

Other than Henderson, it is hard to make a case for any of those being a success although Lovren showed signs of leadership before succumbing to the curse of the hamstring.

 

What all this says is open to interpretation. It may be no more than a talking point and may not herald any grand conclusions.

Yet when Liverpool’s current situation is being debated and scrutinised, then perhaps it should be seen as part of the overall problem.

Liverpool were England’s super-power or cutting a swathe through Europe when they bought previously. They recruited from a position of strength.

 

Now they are off the pace and adding more players from teams not used to competing at the highest level is not having the desired effect. Perhaps it highlights a lack of quality in the self-proclaimed best league in the world.

At the very least, it is something of which Jurgen Klopp must be aware ahead of a summer when he will seek to put his own mark on the team he has inherited.

It is his work in the transfer market – more than his work on the training ground – which will shape his Liverpool reign. Recruit well and his job will be made easier.

 

Jurgen Klopp will have to improve Liverpool's transfers in the coming years

Follow the same trend as every Liverpool manager since the club’s last title winning season in 1990 and it will become infinitely more difficult.

Over the same five year period, Liverpool’s so-called rivals have also dabbled in that same market.

Arsenal have signed the likes of Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle) and Calum Chambers and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton).

 

Chelsea have recruited Gary Cahill (Bolton) Loic Remy (QPR), Victor Moses (Wigan), Manchester City have signed Fabian Delph (Aston Villa), while Wilfried Bony and Scott Sinclair (Swansea) could be included.

As for Manchester United, they have signed Luke Shaw (Southampton) and Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace).

Of those 11 signings, Cahill and Oxlade-Chamberlain have succeeded and Shaw will prove his worth.

But they have not been collected by just one club, a club impatient for success but one now seemingly as far away from clambering back onto their perch as ever.