Liverpool needed Cody Gakpo more than Manchester United. Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, two right-footed left-wingers, are long-term absentees. Two of United's goalscorers against Nottingham Forest have played their finest football from the left, the flank Alejandro Garnacho occupied during another crowdpleasing cameo.
Gakpo's imminent unveiling is the death knell for Roberto Firmino, out of contract at Liverpool in June. Diaz's arrival in January was part of the phasing-out process of Sadio Mane, emboldened to seek a move to Bayern Munich. Liverpool may have underestimated Mane's importance but they have form for prompt and decisive business. Darwin Nunez was signed before July.
Liverpool, put up for sale by their American owners, are below United in the table. It is in Fenway Sports Group's interests to protect their asset by reinforcing an attack and they are not reticent spenders in the winter. Virgil van Dijk, a transformational transfer, joined in January 2018.
