The Premier League made a record billion pound splurge on transfers this season (£1.175 billion to be precise). While Chelsea, Manchester United and even Leicester City went on a spending spree to bring in some top guns, Liverpool, by their standards, had a fairly quiet transfer window. With a total spending amounting to just over £65 million, the Reds went in more for young, raw talent rather than expensive high profile names.
Most of the signings involve names not heard of before, but there were a few superb signings that already have started delivering the goods.
Speaking of talent, the German manager was furious over the fact that Liverpool missed out on the signing of Oliver Burke. The 19-year-old winger had burst onto the scene after an excellent spell at Nottingham Forest and although Klopp had him on his wishlist as ‘one for the future’, he made a surprise £15 million move to Bundesliga outfit Red Bull Leipzig instead.
However, Klopp did make additions to bolster his squad (7 in all) and also released some high profile names as he aimed to trim his squad.
INs
Here are the players who don the red of Merseyside for the first time:
Marko Grujic
Position: Midfielder
Transfer Fee: £5.1 million
The 20-year-old Serbian was linked to a lot of clubs but chose to pen a five year deal at Anfield. He has represented Serbia at all levels. After his move, he admitted that Klopp convinced him to sign for the Reds. Prior to this move, he helped his former side Red Star Belgrade win the Super Liga title. He made his Premier League debut for Liverpool in the Reds’ 0-2 loss at Burnley and is surely one for the future.
Loris Karius
Position: Goalkeeper
Transfer fee: £4.7 million
With the indifferent form of first choice goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, it made sense for Klopp to sign some talented keeper who would give him stiff competition. While no one expected that someone to be the 23-year-old Mainz keeper, it is a pretty decent signing at a bargain price. Karius himself has spent two years of his youth career at Manchester City, and kept nine clean sheets for Mainz last season. For sure Liverpool might just be able to say that for the time being, their goalkeeping issues are solved.
Joel Matip
Position: Centre Back
Transfer Fee: Free
The 25 year old Cameroonian signed a four year contract with Liverpool following his transfer from Bundesliga outfit Schalke. The Cameroon international even has a world cup (2014) goal against Brazil. He is a solid presence at the back. Matip has been an evergreen presence for Schalke since 2009 and it is an important signing for Liverpool, seeing how frail their back four had become following the departures of some big names.
Sadio Mane
Position: Winger/Midfielder
Transfer Fee: £30 million
The Senegalese is the signing of the season for Liverpool. Not only was he prolific for Southampton last season, where he scored 25 goals in 75 appearances, he has got off to a flying start at Liverpool, netting on his debut against Arsenal in the league. The hefty price tag has made the 24-year-old the most expensive African player ever. Liverpool seem to be able to do wonders utilizing his pace and power in the midfield. If he keeps up his good form and lives up to his price tag, Liverpool could be serious title contenders this season.
Ragnar Klavan
Position: Centre Back
Transfer Fee: £4.2 million
The Estonian is another quality centre back signed by Klopp and has been a regular player for Augsburg for the past two seasons. It remains to be seen how he performs in the league. Liverpool fans were certainly not expecting this unlikely pair of him and Matip to form the core of the back line. However, he has a good reputation at Augsburg and the 30-year-old also carries a lot of experience, having earned more than a hundred caps for his country.
Alex Manninger
Position: Goalkeeper
Transfer Fee: Free Contract
The 39-year-old former Arsenal goalkeeper has signed a short term contract with the Reds and will mostly be used as a third-choice keeper behind Mignolet and Karius.
Georginio Wijnaldum
Position: Midfielder
Transfer Fee: £23 million
Another brilliant signing for the Reds, the Dutchman possesses great speed and can takes up a lot of workload while operating from midfield. With Newcastle slipping to the Championship this season, a lot of clubs were in the fray to sign the 25-year-old. However, it was Liverpool he signed for on a five year deal and should be a great asset for the team. With him in the squad, there is a lot of depth in the midfield and Liverpool look to have it all covered at least in that department.
OUTs
There were some big names that went out of the club and also some others who were loaned out as Klopp aimed to trim down his squad to one with more balance. Here are the significant exits:
Martin Skrtel
The exit of the Slovakia international to Turkish side Fenerbache was a surprise one, seeing that he was a faithful servant of the club since 2008. With him gone, Liverpool’s defense is certainly weakened.
Joe Allen
A talented Welsh midfielder, Allen did not have the best of times at Liverpool following his transfer from Swansea City. There were flashes of brilliance, but he was hampered by injuries his form was inconsistent and Klopp decided to let him leave for Stoke City.
Christian Benteke
Liverpool thought they had solved their striker issues when they signed Benteke from Aston Villa. Clearly, it was not to be as he never seemed the same player for Liverpool. He started getting lesser playing time and eventually Liverpool were happy to offload him for £ 27 million to Crystal Palace.
Jordon Ibe
Ibe was at the club since the age of 16, but could not find a place in their packed midfield. This season, Klopp offloaded the winger to Bournemouth for £15 million.
Mario Balotelli
This was no surprise of course. With just one Premier League goal for Liverpool, he is probably one of their worst signings. There was more news regarding his controversies than his football and Klopp had no hesitation in packing him off to Ligue One outfit Nice.
Apart from these exits, Liverpool also released Jose Enrique and Kolo Toure as their standards took a serious dip over the past seasons.
Among those loaned out are Danny Ward (Huddersfield Town), Jon Flanagan (Burnley) and Lazar Markovic (Sporting).
THT Verdict: 6
Although there were some really talented players brought in, not many big signings were made and it remains to be seen how effective these signings would be in the long run. While Mane and Wijnaldum are really good signings, Liverpool could have done without letting Skrtel go and leaving the defense at the hands of newbies. While most signings made by Klopp was done bearing in mind the long term benefits, there is also the question of fitting into the team. It was not an awfully bad transfer market for the Reds, but it could certainly have done with a few bigger names.
