The summer of 2022 is shaping up to be one of the busiest transfer windows Liverpool have seen for quite some time. If there’s not quite a revolving door for players at Kirkby then there certainly seems to be the potential for plenty of upheaval, particularly at the front of the team.
The most significant departure looks set to be Sadio Mane, who could be on his way to Bayern Munich ( though they’ll need to increase their offer ). Takumi Minamino, the Reds’ top scorer in both domestic cups this season, looks to be on the move ahead of 2022/23, while cult hero Divock Origi has left and is on the verge of joining AC Milan.
If Darwin Nunez is signed from Benfica, he will effectively replace Mane in Jurgen Klopp’s squad (though it could be argued to some extent that Luis Diaz, who plays on the left, already has). Finding someone to cover the loss of Minamino and Origi may almost be harder, purely because the role of an occasional starter and regular substitute is a difficult proposal to sell. Fortunately for Liverpool, it looks as though they already have the man for the job on board.
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The Reds made excellent use of their available options from the bench this season. Per Transfermarkt, their substitutes scored 10 league goals and assisted eight, with an impressive total of 11 different players chipping in to the combined total of 18 goal contributions.
This tally has only been bettered four times in the Premier League in the Klopp era, and one of them was by the Liverpool manager himself when he prised 19 goals/assists from subs in 2015/16. Brendan Rodgers got the same number two seasons ago, while Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery each produced 21 goal contributions from Arsenal substitutes in 2016/17 and 2018/19 respectively.
Origi was the top league scorer from the bench in this campaign, netting against Everton, West Ham and (most crucially) Wolves. However, it was Roberto Firmino who directly contributed most, with a pair of goals and two assists. He didn’t stop there either, scoring from the bench in Champions League wins at Porto (where he got a brace) and Inter Milan, as well as in the FA Cup win over Shrewsbury Town.
This means exactly half of Firmino’s goal contributions this season occurred when he didn’t begin the match. The obvious difference between the samples being that he played 1,394 minutes as a starter, getting a goal or assist every 174 minutes when in the XI, compared with one every 52 across his 414 minutes from the bench.
While not quite as productive as a sub across his entire career in England, Firmino has had few peers in this regard. Only nine players have scored or assisted more frequently from the bench in the Premier League since the start of 2015/16, and none of those who have – a group including Mohamed Salah – can match Firmino’s tally of substitute appearances or minutes.
He’s an incredibly effective mid-game change when at his best. With five substitutions allowed from next season, Klopp will be able to call upon the former Hoffenheim man more often than ever before.
One thing Firmino doesn’t have is the different attributes which set Origi apart from his fellow forwards. The Brazilian has been such an integral part of the front line for so long that bringing him on from the bench feels like adding more of the same into the mix rather than challenging opposition defences with a testing new problem.
Equally, that needn’t automatically be a problem for the Reds, whose 'Plan A' works far more often than not. Fresh legs – and more crucially, a fresh mind – can still add something even if the player coming on is similar in style to the person they are replacing.
At a time when Liverpool arguably need to replace Origi, they may have done so with someone who joined the club at the same time as the Belgian.
