The beginning of the transfer market gave us a little bit of a surprise when Joe Allen completed his 13.5 million move to Stoke City. It was a move that the Liverpool supporters questioned. Divided opinions were voiced as to why one of the star performers in the Euro championships were let go by Klopp?
Signed by Brendan Rodgers in 2012, Joe Allen was supposed to take the mantle from Steven Gerrard and take the club to great heights. 4 years, 90 appearances and 4 goals later he has left the club. During his time with Liverpool, he never could became a household name as he struggled in his early career at Anfield. With a change in the management, it might have helped his cause to cement a place under new boss Jurgen Klopp. But with the arrivals of Wijnaldum and Marko Grujic, it became harder to get the first team football. Fighting for his place are also Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Lucas Leiva.
Allen featured only 19 times for Liverpool last season and with a playing time of 730 minutes, he still had 83.9% pass completion rate which is the best among all of them. His phenomenal form in the Euro’s supported his cause. In a team where Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey were wrecking havoc, Joe Allen also became the steady rock that enabled Wales that free-flowing attacking football.
Allen played key passes into the attacking third a total of 15 times and played key passes inside the penalty box a total of 11 times. His defensive duties outlined his work as he recovered the ball a total 31 times and dominated the midfield. His beautiful footwork was not missed by the critics as he earned his name in the Euro team of the tournament along side Tony Kroos in central midfield.
In a recent interview, Joe Allen made it clear that at the age of 26, the best years are ahead of him and he would like to play some first team football. The move to Stoke City will see him teaming up with his compatriot Mark Hughes. Stoke City open their Premier League campaign against Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough. He also said:
“It wasn’t a difficult decision to move and I’m not looking back with any regrets,” he told Sky Sports. He thought his style of play would actually be in line with that of the new manager, but it was not quite so. He is raring to go in the new season and he is really happy at his new club.
Joe Allen might turn out to be a revelation with the Potters as he was with Wales and Liverpool might rue this decision in the end.
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