Liverpool have signed four players so far in this transfer window; Kolo Toure, Iago Aspas, Simon Mignolet and Luis Alberto. The club also sold and loaned several players such as Andy Carroll to West Ham for £15 million, Jonjo Shelvey to Swansea for £6million and Pepe Reina on loan to Napoli. Now this certainly looks good financially for the club. The wage bill will probably have gone down overall and the net spend is about 1-2 million pounds, yes this is good but its not showing much intent in the transfer market. Look at Spurs spending big money on Soldado, City spending money like crazy, United going for Fabregas and even Arsenal are going for Suarez. Clear signs of intent from teams who most expect to finish in the top 5. But this article isn’t on Liverpool not spending big, it is about who we have signed so far and I will ask the question, are they any good? Also I’ll be looking at potential targets and whether they will fit into Rodgers system.
First Kolo Toure, a man with Premier League title winning experience and that experience might be key if we are going to challenge for top four. So what can Toure do that Skrtel can’t? Well he’s calm on the ball, he has decent pace for a centre back of his age and he is dominant in the air. The lad is a big physical presence and he will fit in great. One thing Toure has up his sleeve is his shot power, he may be useful when we have a 35 yard free kick, similar to what Riise used to do back in the day.
Next Simon Mignolet, a keeper who I think will be great for Liverpool. I was sad to see the departure of Pepe Reina however the Mignolet’s stats are brilliant. Yes he only got eleven clean sheets last year (three less than Reina) but let’s face it Sunderland are bang average at there best. He also made 149 saves that’s almost double the amount of saves Reina made and had a much better save to goal ratio than Pepe. Add to that he is a young goalkeeper, Liverpool have got themselves a great deal.
Now onto Iago Aspas, whether he is to replace or go along side Luis Suarez, the lad is going to be pivotal in Liverpool’s top four charge this season. Aspas scored 12 goals last year in La Liga and 23 the season before in the lower division so make of that what you will, he knows where the goal is but can he do it in the top division? He’s got decent pace and is 5 foot 9 so won’t be a huge aerial threat, like the rest of our team really. Rodgers has a lot of confidence in him, saying he believes Aspas will take Liverpool’s attack to the next level. In pre season Apas has impressed scoring several goals and linking well with Luis Suarez.
Finally onto Luis Alberto, a young Spanish lad who we signed for 6 million, I for one have been impressed with his pre season form. Like the other signings he looks like he will fit into Rodgers passing system. His position is a forward or winger but from what I’ve seen from him so far he looks to be more of a central midfielder. He is comfortable on the ball and looks like a great passer similar to Arteta. He, like Aspas isn’t a 25 goal a season man but scored 11 goals in the Spanish second division last year for Barcelona B. Let’s hope he turns out to be another good signing!
Three Potential targets for the club this season.
Kyriakos Papadopoulos
Now this fella has been linked with Liverpool since the very beginning of the transfer window, primarily as a replacement for Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and most Liverpool fans would be delighted to see him at the club. He is 6 feet tall and only 21 year old, currently plays for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga. As I am writing this there are reports Liverpool have agreed a 13 million pound fee to sign him! Let’s hope it is true. Papadopoulos is a beast of a defender, very aggressive and would certainly be a brilliant captain in the future so in a way you can see why Liverpool view him as a replacement for Jamie.
Christian Eriksen
Eriksen is someone who like Papa has been linked with Liverpool for some time, the little midfielder from Ajax has allegedly been scouted by Liverpool and that led to Liverpool ending their interest however reports are still circulating that he could come to Anfield before deadline day. Juan Mata, Sigurdsson and Cazorla are all players like Eriksen, small, skilful get assists and goals and I believe Liverpool could capture him for around 12-16 million but whether we are willing to pay that is another thing all together.
Jackson Martinez
Martinez has been recently linked with Liverpool with the possible departure of Suarez, he is a Striker for FC Porto and is 6 foot 1. Out of the other players I have mentioned this one seems the most unlikely with big money spending Napoli closing in on him. He has a great goal scoring record, scoring 28 goals in both of his last 2 seasons and is nearing the prime of his career at 26 years of age.