There’s been an unrivalled amount of chatter surrounding the future of Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt in recent weeks, with plenty of rumours linking him with a move to Anfield.
However, reports in the past 48 hours seem to point toward the Dutch wonder kid joining PSG.
There’s also talk of Liverpool making moves for Lille’s Nicolas Pepe and Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes.
While it’s difficult to quantify anything at this stage of ‘silly season’, one thing that we do know is that there will be a few incomings this summer – but exactly who those players are we’re yet to gain any real clarity on.
What is something important to note though, is a strange attitude some fans seem to have taken towards Liverpool’s rumoured interest in de Ligt in particular.
Whether or not Liverpool sign him or are even vying for his services is another matter entirely, but why some fans seem to think that he’s not needed at Anfield is an entirely perplexing thought and one I’d like to discuss here, drawing parallels to the team that just pipped the 97-point, one defeat all season Reds – Manchester City.
My problem is this: why simply stagnate at a point at which we’re winning trophies and looking to continue this trend?
The de Ligt example is a pretty good one. People have been saying we’ve already got four good centre backs in van Dijk, Matip, Gomez and Lovren thus we don’t need de Ligt.
But why not? He’s a world-class talent and would improve any defence, including Liverpool’s, so why wouldn’t we consider going in for him, or someone of his ilk?
If we don’t recruit with more strength in depth, this season’s title challenge and European triumph will be one-offs. We don’t want that. We need to ensure that this is sustained glory.
The same can be said for adding another midfielder or attacker. Just because we’ve got Salah, Mané and Firmino doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be signing players who will push those three to another level in order to maintain their place in Klopp’s starting XI.
And here’s where the comparison to Manchester City comes in.
Over the course of the last seven or so years, they’ve consistently pumped money into the recruitment of some of the finest players money can buy.
They didn’t rest on their laurels of being satisfied with only one title and have continually brought in players that will improve the team and ensure that they continue challenging for major honours.
Liverpool, although they don’t have the same level of money at their disposal, will be able to invest, and need to do so.
If they want to push City for the title and make at least a good shot at defending their European crown, they need to be bringing in quality reinforcements and newcomers.
It may be something that’s difficult to balance, with players expecting regular game time and all of the problems that come with it, but this is the best kind of problem that any manager in world football can have.
Do you see Guardiola complaining about the strength of his squad? No. He has often had the ability to bring the likes of Mahrez, Jesus, David Silva and Leroy Sané off the bench this season.
This needs to be a model that Liverpool need to follow, whether that be with the addition of Matthjis de Ligt or any other player that Liverpool are linked with this summer.
Progress never came from standing still.
Finally someone in the Liverpool media talking sense.
Totally agree…strength in depth is what got city over the line. 1 draw too many cost us the title love studger but he was past he’s best , Origi came good at end of season. Like for like quality when Salah had his rough patch could of made that 2 point difference or a Coutinho replacement could of unlocked the door when we were struggling. Man city have a like for like 11, there second 11 would prob finish top 5 in the league we need to match them to constantly sustain a challenge year in year out.
Total crap. “Spend lots of money, keep up with Man City”.
Why not have faith in Klopp’s methods ? You know, that German guy who just made us Champions of Europe again ? The guy who signed the likes of Mane and Salah for less than £40 million each and turned them into European (and almost English) champions. The guy who spent £8 million on a certain Andrew Robertson who is now one of the best left backs on the planet.
FSG would probably back Klopp if he wanted to spend freely, but Klopp has shown throughout his career that he doesn’t generally buy expensive superstars (with 2 notable exceptions), he creates them.
Totally agreed, thats why we were “almost” Prem Champions as always, our strength in depth is not there
Nobody’s digging Klopp out or saying we haven’t had a great season. But the prem is the holy grael it was there to be taken. So you dont think sending Clyne out on loan when Trent was injured didnt cost us? Trent was out longer than was anticipated. Yes Milner filled in but then your taking away some impetus further up the pitch when we were struggling to put teams away. Like for like replacements is the key. Nobodys saying spend silly money..Robinsons a true bargain find more if we have to spend more for that extra bit of quality so be it.
So, spend way too much on De ligt and his money sucking agent for a player we don’t need instead of developing Gomez who is home grown, we are not Hollands training ground to help them win the WC……Gomez is better and is going to get better, other areas need attention more also we have very good young players like Brewster who will be world beaters that are going to be exciting to watch, so Stagnate and no depth, you are not on the training ground just your laptop writing stories with no depth or research behind them, that’s why klopp and his team I trust not you and your laptop!
Hang on who said get De ligt? And gomezs position is covered. What about Mane Salah firminho when they get injured we have been lucky with injuries in those positions because we all see the dynamic changes in the team when they come off. So we dont need a ball playing midfielder cover for Robinson and Trent? Unlike you i see the need to plan for the worse case scenario. When youve got a squad that you can have Mane Salah robinson trent etc out the team at sametime and not notice the difference with their replacements then you have a quality squad like man city thats the benchmark and like i said i never mentioned spending billions!!
Disagree.
De Ligt is a player LFC may do well to have in the team, playing wise.
This whole article merely dances around the main issue, Money.
No one said De Ligt is not a great player to have. We are saying not at the crazy price.
Back when VVD asked to sign De Ligt, why no one took action?
There’s more involved than just being able to pay the price. There’s sustainability and there’s players’ morale.
The upgrade of De Ligt to Gomez is not refelcted in the price mentioned. If De Ligt comes at the same price as VVD therebaouts, with an increase pay given towards our current players, then it makes sense but NOT at the price being floated around.
LFC have to do smart business not play the business game like what the article wants.
De Ligt would be nice but we have more pressing areas to cover first. Im happy with Matip and Gomez. The 2 guys who think like for like cover aint important last years champs final Sala got injured (worse case scenario) Sturridge Origi out on loan who did we replace him with?? Stop living in a dream world where players dont get injured. Yes i hope Brewster steps up this season but hes not proven at that level a lot of pressure to put on him…Solanki comes to mind.
Spot on. Liverpool are not the finished article and we should invest from a position of strength! So many fans seem to be protecting the clubs bank balance at the expense of improving chances of future glory!
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