Sometimes in life you get what you pay for. And rarely has that maxim been more accurate for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool than with the position of goalkeeper.
Witness the contrasting fortunes of Loris Karius and Alisson Becker, both brought to the club by the Reds boss to ostensibly become the number one goalkeeper.
While Karius is presently looking for a new club, Alisson today celebrates four years of an Anfield career in which he has already scooped every major honour and cemented his position as arguably the finest keeper in the game.
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The difference between the pair? Well, about £60million for a start.
Karius was one of Klopp's first significant signings in the summer of 2016, snapped up for £4.7m after an impressive season with Mainz. At that price, it wasn't an expensive gamble, with Simon Mignolet managing to largely fend off the German for 18 months before Karius was installed as permanent first-choice halfway through his second season.
The mixing and matching between the sticks had caused inevitable confusion among a Liverpool defence that was regarded as a weak point of an otherwise strong and improving team under Klopp. But even when the boss plumped for Karius - and bolstered by the arrival of Virgil van Dijk at centre-back - greater consistency at the back didn't transmit into such performances between the sticks, leading to the nightmare of Kiev and the Champions League final.
Liverpool and Klopp grappled with keeping faith in Karius until a poor start to pre-season prompted them to act. The impact of Van Dijk had made it clear spending big can result in instant and transformative rewards. So having flirted with the transfer, Liverpool made a definitive move to snaffle Alisson from Roma for a fee that eventually rose to £65m, briefly becoming the most expensive goalkeeper of all time.
It didn't take long to prove money well spent, the Brazil international - in contrast to the experience of Karius 12 months previous - arguably Liverpool's man-of-the-match as they held off Tottenham Hotspur to win the Champions League in Madrid in June 2019. The Club World Cup followed, and then the end of a 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England. Alisson also had a small role on the road to League Cup triumph last season, and then saved a penalty from Chelsea's Mason Mount in the FA Cup final shoot-out to set up Kostas Tsimikas to notch the winner.
Then there are the individual accolades. The winner of the Yashin Trophy, FIFA Best Goalkeeper and UEFA Goalkeeper of the Champions League in 2019, he also claimed the Premier League Golden Gloves award that season and last term shared it with compatriot and Manchester City shot-stopper Ederson following a campaign in which he had a strong claim for being Liverpool's best player.
Certainly, in terms of such a specialised position, he is the most important. Caoimhin Kelleher has potential and Adrian experience, but there's little doubt Liverpool are a stronger, meaner proposition with Alisson in goal, not least with his confidence in sweeping up from the back and an ability in one-on-one situations that far outstrips any of his peers. A total of 86 clean sheets in 183 Reds appearances speaks for itself.
The sheer talent of Alisson is best described by those who have worked alongside him. Mignolet left Liverpool after a year deputising for the Brazilian in which he realised his chief rival was of another order.
"He’s the most complete goalkeeper I’ve seen in my career," he said. "He is so calm. He’s such a talent. There’s nothing he needs to be taught. You know when you get those people who are just natural at what they do? That’s him.
"What do they say, 'You never forget how to ride a bike'? With him, it’s goalkeeping. He picked it up naturally and he never forgot it. That’s what makes him special."
But for all the saves and shut-outs, arguably Alisson's most celebrated moments have come with his contribution at the other end of the field. There were assists for Mohamed Salah against Manchester United and, last season, Norwich City, but his injury-time winning header at West Bromwich Albion in May 2021 - the final goal scored during pandemic football in England - has already etched itself into the Anfield annals.
Without that goal, Liverpool perhaps wouldn't have qualified for the Champions League and embarked on the remarkable ride of last season in which they came within a whisker of an unprecedented quadruple. And, on a personal level, after a difficult start to the year in which his form dipped dramatically and there was the traumatic death of his father, the tearful scenes of celebration revealed much about a player among the most popular and thoughtful in the squad.
"He is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful person and funny, smart, thoughtful, intense in moments," said Klopp after the goal. "He is just a great guy and it couldn’t have been for a better person to have such a special moment after all that he went through. I am really, really happy for him."
So to the coming season. An abdominal injury suffered in training last week has put in jeopardy his availability for the Community Shield against Manchester City on Saturday week, although the Premier League opener at Fulham the following weekend shouldn't be an issue.
Liverpool are expected to be in the hunt for major honours again, and with Brazil preparing for the World Cup in Qatar later in the year, it could be another career-defining few months for the 29-year-old.
But having committed to another five years at Anfield, there is sufficient time for Alisson to justify his place alongside Ray Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar and Elisha Scott in the pantheon of legendary Liverpool goalkeepers. Given the longevity of that company, he's only just getting started.
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