If not Liverpool’s best transfer window in Premier League history, January 2013 is at least their most successful in terms of value for money.
Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho were brought in from Chelsea and Inter Milan for £12m and £8.5m respectively, while flops Joe Cole and Nuri Sahin were both sent packing as their hefty wages were removed from the Reds’ wage bill, with the former re-signing for West Ham United on a free transfer while the latter’s loan from Real Madrid was cancelled so he could rejoin Borussia Dortmund.
Both new boys would make an immediate impact for Liverpool as Sturridge scored in each of his first three appearances for the club and finished the 2012/13 season with 11 goals and five assists from 16 appearances. Meanwhile, Coutinho, who made his debut on this day 10 years ago, would score on his maiden start and finish the campaign with three goals and seven assists from 13 appearances, before both played starring roles for the Reds in 2013/14, as they nearly won the Premier League title, and beyond.
READ MORE: Liverpool have an underlying Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah problem only change may solve
READ MORE: Alisson Becker has identified clear Liverpool problem that four players can solve
Aged 23 and 20 when arriving at Anfield, the Reds snapped up the pair for bargain fees and were the perfect examples of FSG’s transfer strategy. While not every deal in those early days worked out, those two certainly did as the club continued to target quality potential, at an affordable price, and look to take it to the next level, before selling for maximum profit, which could then be reinvested in the squad if the players ‘outgrew’ the club.
In the case of Sturridge and long-serving captain Jordan Henderson, who joined as a 20-year-old for an initial £16m from Sunderland in the summer of 2012, Liverpool enjoyed the ride with the pair, with injuries arguably the only thing stopping the former from establishing himself as the Reds’ finest Premier League striker.
Meanwhile, Coutinho left for a club-record £142m to Barcelona in January 2018, following in the footsteps of Luis Suarez, who joined the Catalans for £65m in the summer of 2014 after joining Liverpool as a 24-year-old from Ajax in a £22.8m deal in January 2011. While the Reds’ reinvestment in their playing squad after selling the Uruguayan was a mixed bag at best, the funds brought in from the Brazilian’s sale helped to finance moves for the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson Becker, with that very spine taking Liverpool to the next level themselves.
Under Jurgen Klopp’s watch, the Reds have won every major honour since Coutinho’s departure, ending their 30-year wait to win the Premier League as the German’s mentality monsters were crowned champions of England, Europe and the world. The only issue is such success led to them outgrowing FSG’s early transfer model to an extent, with Coutinho's arrival and exit both Anfield moves that were some of the last of their kind.
Liverpool in January 2013 were fighting hard to just get back in the Champions League, never mind consistently compete for titles. As a result, they were in a position where they could afford to ‘gamble’ on Coutinho and spend £8.5m on a 20-year-old Brazilian who had never before played in the Premier League. Signed for his potential and what he could become, it just so happened that he was able to make an instant impact.
Yet since then, Emre Can, Divock Origi, and Andy Robertson are arguably the only resounding success stories bought for such modest fees. Even then, it took all three time to make an impact on the starting XI, while the former pair both left on free transfers rather than for a previously-anticipated profit..
They are not alone, of course. Under Klopp’s watch alone, Mario Balotelli, Jose Enrique, Lazar Markovic, Emre Can, Sturridge, Alberto Moreno, Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum, Origi and Loris Karius have all left the club on free transfers after their own big-money moves to Anfield.
While you can’t dispute the departure of most of these players, Liverpool spent a combined £154m when signing them and then banked nothing when they left. The likes of Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Naby Keita are currently poised to join such a list come the summer, potentially taking that total of vanishing millions up to £275.75m.
Meanwhile, while the Reds still target quality potential, it now has to be that next step above and ready to make an immediate impact for a side now competing consistently for major honours. After all, Liverpool are now fighting to stay atop of the ladder rather than just climb it at their own pace.
This is demonstrated by the Reds’ last five major signings of Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Ibrahima Konate, and Diogo Jota. Aged 23, 22, 25, 22, and 23 respectively at the time of their arrivals, the quintet would cost Liverpool an initial £37m, an initial £64m, an initial £37m, £36m, and £45m each. The club is no longer in a position to gamble on senior players and are signing those who are guaranteed to be first-team ready.
They are accompanied by youngsters of course, like Calvin Ramsay, Fabio Carvalho, and Harvey Elliott, but such signings are for the future, where they can be permitted the required patience. Assistant manager Pep Lijnders alluded to this last year when defending the Reds’ recent transfer activity and explaining their policy.
"If you buy a lot of players, young players don’t get a chance. One influences the other," the Dutchman said last November. "It’s also the type of player you want to buy. I think we invested well.
“If you look to our last year, bringing in Luis Diaz in the winter. It was a massive signing and needed. I said it was like water in the desert, to give the last push.
"Darwin will be a good signing. For me he is already a good signing but he will be a good signing. So young, so hungry. He can create five chances by himself in the game. A proper striker, an addition to what we didn’t have, the type.
"Then you have Calvin and Fabio. Young players who come in. Before that, Ibou Konate and Jota. These are all signings who were bullseyes.
"We cannot afford to buy and not be right. We can only afford to buy to be right. And it has to add something to our team. Something special, something new. Jota added something new, something special. Luis Diaz added something new, something special. Ibou Konate added something new, something special.
"We have to be right and that’s what we search for. What was most important was to tie down our best players. Our team is and was a machine. If you don’t tie them down, they will leave. It’s always a balance. You need to be right with your signings and I believe we were right.
"Do people want to see one or two or three or four more players? Of course! Everybody wants to see, the outside world. We prefer to have the right one, and to really work with. And give time for young ones to really work with.
"Add and renew the team, make it younger, add the academy. Give talent a chance and to buy the top one who influences the first XI immediately like Luis, like Jota, like Ibou, like Kostas.
"I think we invested. What people will want to see is transfers is the one thing. Building a club and building a long-term successful relationship has much more to do than just the transfers."
FSG do continue to invest in the Liverpool squad as the aforementioned deals demonstrate. However, the criticism would be that, in recent years at least since Klopp’s side started winning trophies (or since Coutinho was sold), significant investment in individual players has come in isolation.
While Gakpo, Nunez, Diaz, and Konate have all cost hefty amounts in the previous four transfer windows, the Dutchman, Colombian and Frenchman were solitary arrivals at the time. Meanwhile, while the Uruguayan was accompanied by Carvalho, Ramsay, and the loan signing of Arthur Melo, the young duo cost less than an initial £10m combined.
As a result, we have to go back to the summer of 2020 for the last time Liverpool spent more than £20m on two players in the same window when bringing in Thiago Alcantara and Jota. It marks the only time the Reds have invested in such a way since their Champions League win in 2019 with Nunez also the only signing costing more than £45m over the past four years.
Such records will be used as a stick to beat FSG with, with Liverpool’s owners not able to compete with the riches of Manchester City. It’s in part why they are searching for new investors and remain open to a takeover at Anfield.
But they have not been aided by the Reds no longer being in a position to sign the ‘next Coutinho’ at a pittance, with the stakes so high to remain at the top, or the fact that the playmaker remains the last star name to ‘complete the journey’ and move on for significant funds that can be reinvested in the squad. Of course, with Liverpool challenging for trophies, there were no star names pushing to leave who could be cashed in on, but that now leaves Klopp with an ageing squad stuck in transition.
Critics will point to the fact that the likes of Brighton and Benfica were able to snap up Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez for £4.5m and £8.8m respectively. Clearly, there is still talent out but the Reds are no longer the middle ground for it to shine.
This is not new, considering they signed the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Virgil van Dijk for much loftier fees than they could have done when previously linked prior to their first Premier League moves. Meanwhile, while the Senegalese joined Bayern Munich for the smallest of profits, the likes of the Egyptian and Dutchman are much more likely to depart for losses or Bosman transfers at the end of the contracts, while there is no desire to cash in on a Konate or Diaz.
Liverpool need their ‘next Philippe Coutinho’, both a bargain incoming or a record outgoing, for the FSG transfer model to flourish. In truth, they owe so much of their recent success to the Brazilian, having helped fire them back into the Champions League before his sale financed the final step to glory. The only problem is such a player has become a lot harder to find with the scrutiny higher than ever when fighting to stay on top rather than just get there.
READ NEXT:
Liverpool must simply beat Everton or outcome doesn't bear thinking about
Diogo Jota has biggest point to prove to Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp after year to forget
Jurgen Klopp names six things Liverpool now have and makes Everton 'problems' admission
Luis Diaz names Liverpool game he hopes to return for after injury update
