When you’d had enough of the marathon of Boxing Day football, leftover turkey sandwiches and your nan’s opinion on Meghan Markle, the sweet relief of bed brought to an end the festivities. However, as many of us were savouring the last few minutes of the bank holiday, Liverpool were working away on a major transfer deal.
Without any fuss for rumour, they completed a deal to sign PSV Eindhoven’s World Cup star Cody Gakpo for a guaranteed fee of £37m. In an era of dragged out transfer rumours and tracking player’s flights around the world, it was a refreshing surprise to see a piece of business concluded so efficiently - while the rest of the country was in a food coma.
It’s nothing new for the Reds. Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez both joined without any saga, and that is a credit to the Liverpool recruitment team that has suffered blows as first Michael Edwards and then Julian Ward stepped away from their roles. But as seems to be the case with the set up on the red half of Merseyside, the individual cogs are just part of the machine.
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They are replaceable, and yet the club keeps moving forward. Although Erik ten Hag is improving Manchester United, Liverpool’s fiercest rivals are so far off being able to replicate what the Anfield club have produced in the transfer market in recent years. Imagine United being able to pull off a deal without overpaying or sending the transfer rumours into overdrive? Impossible.
Instead of actually taking decisive action, the Red Devils flirted with the idea of signing Gakpo. Liverpool went out and made it happen. That’s the clear comparable difference between the two Premier League clubs at this moment in time. Despite the positive comparisons, United are the Manchester club Liverpool want to be comparing themselves to.
On the blue half of Manchester, City are looking to continue their domestic dominance and the signing of Erling Haaland has taken them to the next level. Pep Guardiola’s side keep getting stronger and stronger and this season, the difference in quality between themselves and Liverpool, who they beat to the title by just one point last term, has become apparent.
FSG have received criticism for their apparent lack of investment in recent years, but it is clear Jurgen Klopp needs help in the transfer window if his side are to compete again next season. Especially in midfield, where they’ve looked so short this season.
This January, they look set to address that issue. Having completed the signing of Gakpo, who could be used anywhere along the front three or in a number ten role, the club have turned their attention to signing another World Cup standout. Young player of the tournament Enzo Fernandez.
The Benfica man has just about come down from the high of winning football’s biggest trophy, and now looks set to move away from the Portuguese giants this winter. Once again, the finest clubs in Europe, including Manchester United, are queuing up for his signature, but Liverpool are looking to jump that queue and bring him to Anfield.
The Argentine has a £105m buy-out clause that could be triggered by a club like Newcastle, but it is thought that Manchester United or Liverpool would have to pay around £60-70m to make a deal happen. It’s a big ask, but if Liverpool can make it happen this winter, then they will have made their intentions clear.
Gakpo and Fernandez will mark an incredible window, but Liverpool will also have half an eye on paving the way for a man who could become their most expensive signing in history. Jude Bellingham is almost certain to leave Borussia Dortmund in summer and the Reds, with agent Jordan Henderson in his ear in Qatar, will want to be in the race for his signature.
He’s been valued at £130m by his current employers, a valuation that seems incredibly fair when you remember his performances for England at the World Cup, and the fact he is still only 19. Real Madrid remain a major attraction for the Englishman, but Liverpool aren’t out of the running.
With Gakpo already in the bag, if the Reds can pull off these two giant midfield signings of the future over the next two windows then they will have established themselves as one of Europe’s finest once again.
