“No, no, nothing will happen in this transfer window. That’s it, all good.”
For the umpteenth time in January, Jurgen Klopp insisted Liverpool would not be strengthening their squad any further in January in the aftermath of the Reds’ last-minute FA Cup loss to Brighton.
The words no Liverpool fan wanted to hear, there had been hope in the Reds’ fanbase that their club would pull a last-minute rabbit out of their hat. They had in the past, of course, with Ozak Kabak, Ben Davies, and Arthur Melo - even if none of the trio were roaring successes.
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But, with just a day of the transfer window remaining, Klopp’s words rang true.. As Liverpool’s season continues to flounder, there really was no cavalry coming to their rescue on deadline day and the flak owners FSG continue to face for their restricted investment is only going to get louder.
Down in ninth in the Premier League table, 10 points off the top four, the Reds’ title hopes died back in the Autumn. Having nearly won an unprecedented quadruple last year, now they face an uphill battle just to qualify for next season’s Champions League. If their woeful 2023 form continues, they risk missing out on Europe altogether.
Having seen both their League Cup and FA Cup defences end in the fourth round, Klopp’s men lock horns with European champions Real Madrid in the Champions League round-of-16 next month. And having lost five of their last six meetings with the La Liga giants, including two European Cup finals, their season could essentially be ‘ended’ by March.
Midfield is their glaring issue, and it was apparent again against Brighton. As the accidental newly-formed first-choice trio of Naby Keita, Thiago Alcantara, and Stefan Bajcetic were replaced one by one on the South Coast, Liverpool’s fragile grip of the tie loosened more and more before Kaoru Mitoma struck in injury-time.
The Reds can look back as recently as 2020/21 for a similarly disappointing season, but at least that was explained away by a defensive injury-crisis which left them with no senior centre-backs available. While they have been struck by injuries again this season, Arthur is their only long-term absentee in midfield. This time their issue has been a lack of quality, rather than quantity, which stings that little bit more considering how close the same players were to winning it all last year.
Liverpool bosses have known a midfield revamp has been needed for a considerable time. When overhauling the Reds’ attack, Anfield insiders acknowledged the outside desire for new midfielders when reiterating that such recruitment would take place in 2023. But with the January transfer window nearly closed, that revamp remains on hold until the summer.
Thiago remains the last senior midfielder to join Liverpool, signing from Bayern Munich for an initial £20m in September 2020. But since that summer, Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum, Marko Grujic and Xherdan Shaqiri have all departed as the Reds’ remaining options, many of whom are prone to injury, continue to age past their best.
To add insult to injury, Liverpool were one of just four Premier League sides not to sign a new midfielder last summer as a plethora of players the Reds had found themselves linked with in the gossip columns moved elsewhere.
Kalvin Phillips, Yves Bissouma, Joao Palhinha, Carney Chukwumeka, and Matheus Nunes join Man City, Tottenham, Fulham, Chelsea, and Wolves respectively despite previous links with Liverpool. Meanwhile, the likes of Fabio Vieira, Casemiro, Morgan Gibbs-White, Tyler Adams, and Lucas Paqueta were big-money movers elsewhere in the English top-flight.
From that inactive quartet, Newcastle United had at least brought in Bruno Guiamaraes in January 2022. Elsewhere, Wolves have signed Joao Gomes in January, while Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Weston McKennie, and Naouirou Ahamada could also be on the move to Premier League clubs before the mid-season transfer window closes.
Across the continent, Kopites could only watch on enviously as Europe’s major heavyweights also all strengthened in midfield with a number of players also previously linked with the Reds, as Aurelien Tchouameni joined Real Madrid, Bayern Munich signed Ryan Gravenberch, Paris Saint-German snapped up Vitinha, Renato Sanches, Fabian Ruiz, and Carlos Soler, and Barcelona brought in Franck Kessie.
Meanwhile in Italy, Juventus landed Paul Pogba and Leandro Paredes, reigning champions AC Milan recruited Charles De Ketelaere, while Serie A leaders Napoli added Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Tanguy Ndombele.
It’s easy to speculate that Liverpool’s hesitance compared to their rivals is courtesy of their belligerent determination to wait for first-choice target Jude Bellingham, with Borussia Dortmund unwilling to sanction his departure both last summer and in January. It will be rather embarrassing for Reds bosses if, facing rival interest from Real Madrid and Man City, they now miss out on the England international, who would command a club-record fee, at the end of the season.
With their position already in doubt due to finances and a potential lack of Champions League football, the wisdom in gambling it all for just a shot at landing the midfielder is to be questioned. And even if the 19-year-old decides that Anfield is the place for him, it is a big ask to expect him to single-handedly solve their woes.
Of course, midfield isn’t Liverpool’s only issue. Their overhaul in attack has ultimately also been their undoing. Losing Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota to long-term injuries, with Roberto Firmino also joining them on the sidelines, Klopp has had to throw first Darwin Nunez and now Cody Gakpo in at the deep end, looking for an immediate connection with Mohamed Salah more in hope than expectation.
Perhaps if the Colombian and Portuguese hadn’t missed so much of the season and the new recruits had been free to bed in without the added pressures, things would be different at Anfield. At the very least, the Reds have to learn lessons ahead of their planned midfield revamp in 2023. As much as Kopites want new bodies to act as a wave of a magic wand, the evidence so far suggests it will not click overnight.
Klopp’s Liverpool transformation was a gradual success story after taking over in October 2015. Turning doubters into believers, and then high-flying achievers, the German led his side to two finals, losing both and missing out on Europe, before his first full season delivered Champions League qualification.
As the Reds continued to improve year after year, 2017/18 then delivered a European Cup final defeat, before they won the Champions League 12 months later and put together a first title challenge. Come 2020, Liverpool were champions of England, Europe, and the world after ending their 30-year wait to win the Premier League.
It took five years for Klopp to build his mentality monsters and deliver that elusive holy grail. Yet on the cusp of winning it all again last season, it took just five months for it all to fall apart as it became abundantly clear that this is far more than an out of form side suffering a mere blip.
Now in the process of building a new team in their period of transition, there are no guarantees that the Reds’ next generation will restore the ‘normality’ Kopites have grown accustomed to next year.
Previous surgery was gradual with a clean spine already in place and added to. But now Liverpool are following up a 12-month overhaul of their attack with a summer revamp of their midfield. Never mind their lost intensity and identity on the pitch, they have also lost all stability.
The Reds admittedly have a clear transfer strategy in place behind the scenes, with their attacking and midfield revamps plotted well in advance. “Results dictate whether it’s right or not,” Anfield sources would admit in the summer, having seen such plans serve the club well in the past as Klopp’s men rose to the top.
But now FSG are no longer protected by results as scrutiny around Liverpool’s decision-making increases.This time it would appear they’ve got it wrong. For all the hard work put into transforming the Reds’ into one of Europe’s greatest sides, they’ve found out the hard way how much quicker a house of cards can come tumbling down.
Liverpool have taken a giant step backwards this season, there’s no avoiding that. One can only hope that their planned midfield revamp, whether it includes Bellingham or not, will deliver the desired two steps forward as the Reds look to resist reverting back to square one.
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