Liverpool won't fall into old transfer trap as Jurgen…

Liverpool won't fall into old transfer trap as Jurgen Klopp keeps options open

It's arguably the oldest transfer trap into which almost every club has fallen. And Liverpool will be mindful of avoiding a repeat when the window opens in January.

Never be persuaded to buy a player on the strength of a good showing in an international tournament.

With the World Cup now up and running in Qatar, there is once again scope for Liverpool and other Premier League clubs to be seduced by performances on the big stage.

That the competition is unusually being played slap bang in the middle of a season, with the January window swinging open less than a fortnight after the final is played in Doha, suggests there will be even greater intrigue over the possible heavy movement of players, as traditionally happens after a major tournament.

Even in the era of wall-to-wall football on television and the internet, there will be players who have previously have flown under the radar - whether that be through their league having a lack of wider exposure or playing for an unheralded club - that will soon be capturing the attention of the wider public for the first time.

Liverpool will already have done the groundwork for many of their potential future signings, although in the case of some targets - such as Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham - a good World Cup showing will make little difference to any interest.

Indeed, Jurgen Klopp and the Reds' recruitment team will know all about every leading or promising talent on show in Qatar, with some no doubt featuring on their longlist. And that homework should ensure they avoid making the kind of missteps that have hampered almost every team in past years, even if Liverpool have usually avoided such a pitfall.

Sometimes, though, it is unavoidable. Centre-backs Torben Piechnik and Phil Babb were bought after the 1992 European Championship and 1994 World Cup respectively, but neither proved as successful at Anfield as they did in those tournaments. Patrik Berger was a more profitable purchase, scoring for the Czech Republic in their Euro 1996 final defeat to Germany before, a few months later, beginning a long and successful Liverpool career.

Of course, sometimes players are brought in after international competition regardless of their impact for their country. Vegard Heggem was unused with Norway at the 1998 World Cup before moving to Anfield while Xabi Alonso (Euro 2004) and Dirk Kuyt (2006 World Cup) were not regulars at the finals.

In 2010 Milan Jovanovic had already agreed a move to the Reds before famously scoring a winner for Serbia against Germany in that year's World Cup while Raul Meireles, a regular in the tournament for Portugal, joined only days before the transfer deadline in the August. And more recently, Alisson Becker and Xherdan Shaqiri were on Liverpool's radar long before the 2018 World Cup after which they arrived.

But perhaps the biggest myth surrounds the purchase of El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao, who helped Senegal reach the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup. Liverpool agreed a deal for Diouf before the finals while a transfer was negotiated in principle during the tournament itself for Diao. If anything, it was Reds supporters rather than the club itself whose view of the pair was influenced by events in Japan and South Korea that summer.

Liverpool have already shown are too canny to fall into such a trap over the coming weeks. After all, it's the kind of mistake that can cost both millions of pounds and one or two reputations.

READ NEXT

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here