The Premier League has never felt more like a pantomime. The sums of money being thrown around are grotesquely absurd and the result is not glamorous, but kitsch; it is a sickly-sweet, garish affair that is compelling to watch - just for the wrong reasons.
But while a glitter-bomb of extravagance draws the eye to Manchester there are more intriguing (though no more subtle) stories developing beneath the nine-figure sums and the galactico building at City and United. Liverpool, patiently pursuing their key targets with considerably less grandeur than their north-west rivals, are on the verge of something monumental - and a landmark moment in the Jurgen Klopp project.
If, as widely expected, Naby Keita and Virgil van Dijk join Mohamed Salah and Dominic Salanke at Anfield Liverpool will have completed the perfect summer, patching every flaw from 2016/17 and adding extraordinary quality in three vital positions. It will also be proof that Klopp is the most tactically astute manager in the Premier League and that Liverpool are serious title contenders.
Last season Liverpool’s primary flaw was an inability to break down deep-lying opposition, largely because their central midfielders could not match the energy and agility of those gegenpressing forwards. Emre Can in particular frequently suffocated attacking moves with his labored sideways passing, allowing relegation candidates to recalibrate their formation and build a brick wall in front of goal. The gegenpress - pressing frantically in order to win the ball high up the pitch and gallop quickly into the exposed space - can work against more cautious opposition, but only if the model is replicated in each zone of the pitch. Step forward Naby Keita.
RB Leipzig’s 22-year-old midfielder is precisely the agile, weaving central midfielder Liverpool crave. He is the archetype of the modern box-to-box midfielder, combining the surging movement of an old-fashioned number eight with the weaving dribbles of a winger; Keita specializes in outmanoeuvring the opposition press and slaloming quickly between the lines. His clever one-twos will pierce the first line of defence, allowing Liverpool to transition considerably faster in order to utilise the speed and tenacity of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, and Philippe Coutinho. As a perfect blend of the battling midfield engine and the defence-breaching winger, there is every chance Keita will be PFA Player of the Year should he join Liverpool before the deadline.
Van Dijk is a hybrid centre-back, a delicate monster of a player, which is precisely what Liverpool need to kick that jaded-looking, error-prone back four into shape. His brilliant aerial ability and neat passing range should make him a commanding leader on the pitch, helping to maintain those Klopp-patented energy levels throughout the 90 minutes as well as providing a firmer base alongside Keita.
In Salah, Klopp has found the perfect counterweight for Mane, who was occasionally over-crowded on the right; with two wingers stretching the pitch, both will have more space in which to operate. Salah’s arrival also frees up Coutinho to play in a false-eight role, something trialed at the back end of 2016/17 with great success (he can thread through balls from much deeper, catching defenders off-guard and partially solving Liverpool’s issues when facing ultra-defensive outfits).
Klopp’s transfers business, if successful, will only add to the hysteria surrounding the Premier League’s super-villain summer, taking Liverpool’s spending beyond the £150 million mark. But unlike any of the other top four clubs, he will only be adding world-class players and in precisely the correct areas. He is on the verge of something very, very special at Anfield.
