When Liverpool last made a transfer market splash this big, both idea and execution was right. It’s just that Andy Carroll was definitely their Mr Wrong.
Cast your mind back to January 2011, when a moping Fernando Torres had coasted his way through the first half of the season despite pledging his loyalty to Roy Hodgson.
Everyone seemingly knew those words would count for little, except for Liverpool. Eventually Torres did enough sulking for Chelsea to wear down their resistance and – belatedly – they tried to turn the situation into an advantage.
Hard as it is to believe now, £50m for a world class striker was a gargantuan price to pay in the olden days. But the Reds also needed a replacement for Torres. So they diverted £35m of the cash to Newcastle for Carroll and the rest covered off a large portion of the fee it cost to bring Luis Suarez to Anfield.
Suarez was good – great even – Torres was bad, and Carroll was just downright ugly. But there was one clear winner, and Liverpool are about to pull off an even bigger victory six years later in a similar situation.
History is repeating itself with Philippe Coutinho. He is doing a Torres and a Suarez, gnashing his teeth until he gets what he wants – though at the very least maintaining his professionalism on the pitch with a string of superb performances.
⚽ 54 goals for the Reds
🇧🇷 Top Brazilian scorer in #PL
📅 Most prolific month@Phil_Coutinho‘s 2⃣0⃣0⃣ #LFC appearances in numbers: https://t.co/zehAR3lftc pic.twitter.com/zr6dK4s5Do— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 28, 2017
Can you imagine a 35-yearold Coutinho, his hair flecked with grey, retiring at Anfield to a standing ovation? No. And nor can Liverpool, which is why in signing Virgil van Dijk, they’ve effectively let Coutinho free. Don’t believe the talk of Barca moving on from Coutinho and sending love poems to Antoine Griezmann. The Brazilian and the Blaugrana are a match made in heaven, someone with the positional flexibility to replace Andres Iniesta – with just about enough talent to do so – or enhance a front three.
With Coutinho set to raise £100m plus either next month or in the summer, Liverpool could afford to shell out £75m for Van Dijk without sweating buckets over the cost. Another piece of the puzzle is Naby Keita. With the Reds already committed to handing over at least £48m to RB Leipzig for the midfielder in the summer, there is no way an unhappy cash cow like Coutinho would be forced to stick around. The Premier League may be flush with money but Liverpool have to be a little shrewder with their sums than Man City, United and Chelsea.
The equation is simple. Coutinho = Keita and Van Dijk, give or take a little cash. Sounds better than Torres = Carroll and Suarez, right?
This time, however, Liverpool have addressed two needs, one so glaring it’s a wonder that the decision-makers weren’t blinded by the light a long time ago. As fine of a player as he is, in selling Coutinho they would not be removing the heart of their team. Think of it as removing a digit to reinforce the spine.
Jurgen Klopp has claimed, to the disbelief of everyone, that Liverpool take a defence-first approach. Finally though he has a leader of men who can organise and raise the game of the lesser lights around him at the back.
Liverpool Football Club can confirm they have reached an agreement with Southampton for the transfer of Virgil van Dijk.
Full story: https://t.co/tJy9vsGOen pic.twitter.com/L17A7UwqaU
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 27, 2017
The function of Keita is a little less clear-cut – initially a defensive midfielder by trade, the 23-year old has been Leipzig’s Swiss army knife as both a creator and a destroyer. But with Emre Can almost certainly on his way out, Liverpool need a deeper option in midfield more than they need Coutinho.
Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Daniel Sturridge (for now) and a rising Dominic Solanke are all capable of operating in attacking positions.
Coutinho is scoring and setting up goals as well as he ever has, but some of Liverpool’s most impressive attacking performances – like the 4-0 thumping Arsenal – came without his involvement.
If the imminent departure of disillusioned Coutinho did indeed lead to the signing of Van Dijk – who unveiled his Liverpool shirt like a kid at Christmas on social media – then it was a no-brainer.
In one way, Van Dijk is as big a signing as a 1.93m tall Carroll. It’s a good job he plays in defence.
