It was so close: had Nat Phillips been sold on a permanent transfer for a fee of around £10m, and Liverpool secured the signature of Fabio Carvalho from Fuham then FSG, Julian Ward and the departing Micheal Edwards would have achieved a ‘perfect’ transfer window according to Dave Hendrick on AI Scouted.
As it turned out, and explained in far more detail on the above episode, Phillips joined Bournemouth on loan and administrative issues prevented Liverpool from completing the Carvalho deal. However, the Reds still remain in pole position:
“The fact that Carvalho did seem keen on the deal, and was pushing for the deal to go through this window is a good sign for us.”
Crucially though, the Reds gazumped Tottenham, and finalised a permanent transfer for Colombian international Luiz Diaz. The fee is initially £37.5m with add-on’s potentially increasing the final sum to around the £50m mark. Karl Matchett – who appeared on the podcast as well – had this to say:
“I’ve had a smile on my face for 48 hours now… And within 18 months, Diaz’s signing will be considered an absolute steal.”
They both went on to debate the key attributes Diaz will offer, and more importantly why it will benefit the player, and the club, to have him here for a few months before the summer. Time to get acclimatised, time to learn the technical aspects required to press in Klopp’s system and the chance to make a few starts. Dave even thought Diaz might get a run out against our biggest rivals:
🗣️“Man Utd at home, Klopp might throw Diaz in and say ‘you see that fella over there, they paid £50m for that right-back, go turn him into a pretzel.’ “
🎙️ Dave Hendrick licking lips at thought of #LuisDiaz vs #MUFC 💋
🎧 Listen to the full show FREE at https://t.co/7kmTAvYscp pic.twitter.com/bOAi56C9iM
— AnfieldIndex (@AnfieldIndex) February 2, 2022
Finally, there was a discussion about who from the forward line might leave in the summer: will it be Mane, Firmino or Salah?
The second section of the podcast was a detailed round-up of the rest of the clubs in the Premier League including Everton’s haphazard approach to recruitment, Palace missing out on a number of attempts deals, Arsenal leaving themselves incredibly short up front, Newcastle signing a midfield gem as well as the nucleus of a new (poor) defence, and Spurs’ two excellent signatures from Juventus. How long will they take to settle though? All questions answered by clicking the link above.
