Gary Neville believes FSG are leaving themselves short in backing Jurgen Klopp and would put Liverpool in a difficult position soon
Former Manchester United player (not a legend, ask Roy Keane) and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville feels Jurgen Klopp is not adequately backed by the Liverpool owners and their transfer model could cause the club a lot of problems.
The failed former Valencia manager also claims that they should be trying to get a player of Moises Caicedo’s ilk to solve the defensive midfield issue rather than penny-pinching in getting Romeo Lavia from Southampton.
As much as Neville said these things to attract the attention of Liverpool fans, he is unfortunately right. It seems as if the market trend has gone past the transfer model of FSG at Liverpool.
Here’s what the former England fullback has had to say on this topic (h/t The Overlap, via Liverpool Echo):
“I think with Liverpool, [in] the last two years Chelsea have spent huge, Arsenal have spent huge, [Man] United have spent huge, City are City. I think it’s caught the owners out, they haven’t got the money to be able to compete.
“I think the market has shocked them, the [Jude] Bellingham £100m deal, the [Declan] Rice £100m-odd deal, [Enzo] Fernandez, [Moises] Caicedo, they’re [Liverpool] at that £50m or £60m and they’re comfortable there but I think they’re at their point where they’ve hit the ceiling lower than where the other four or five clubs are at.
“He needs that money to be going to compete, they should be going and getting Caicedo for him and going ‘there you go, that’s dealt with and sorted’. They’re trying to pinch someone from Southampton for £40m, he’s a good player, but Jurgen Klopp needs the real deal.”
Can’t disagree with what Neville is saying here. Since winning the league in 2020, there has been something not right with the way Liverpool have operated in transfer windows.
During the 2020/21 season, when centre-backs fell like ninepins and we needed a defender in the January window, the club did pay the money to get Ibrahima Konate early and instead signed Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies on loan. The latter two haven’t gone on to garner the footballing world at an elite level since leaving that summer.
Last summer, when the need for a midfielder was palpable, the club went after signing Aurelien Tchouameni, who chose Real Madrid instead. Post that, it felt as if they did not have a backup option. Hence, they went out and signed Arthur Melo of all people on loan.
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Now when it felt like this summer they will be compelled to spend heavily because of how bad the team was last season, it has not been the case so far. They took the low road in withdrawing the Jude Bellingham pursuit. Moreover, we have signed two senior players and let go of seven. Make of that what you want!
