How’ve the new boys done so far…?
Judged solely on what they’ve shown so far, here’s how we’ve ranked the success of the eight summer signings – who (including £10m Divock Origi who’s not included in this list because he’s out on loan) cost £133m.
8) Dejan Lovren
Sadly, it’s just not happened for our £20m Croatian summer signing just yet. Lovren’s failed to form a solid defensive partnership with Martin Skrtel, and the pair have been consistently criticised as a result. Lovren’s good on the ball, and when he’s feeling confident – he looks mighty smooth in possession. At the moment though, errors and poor positioning are costing him dearly. The fact he’s being dropped for Champions League matches in favour of Kolo Toure says it all. But we won’t give up on him, and hope he discovers the form that saw him rated as one of the league’s best in 2013/14…
7) Lazar Markovic
Markovic often doesn’t make the bench, which for a £20m summer signing, seems absurd. When the young Serb has played he’s lacked the enthusiasm and confident running we’ve all seen on countless YouTube clips, when we all scouted our new wonderkid during the summer. Although he hasn’t shown it – Markovic IS incredibly talented, and it could take time for him to find his Anfield feet. Remember, many criticised Jordan Henderson for two seasons following his big money move as a 20-year-old…
6) Mario Balotelli
Undoubtedly, Balotelli has grafted, and tried to do well us since arriving from £16m from AC Milan. He runs, harries defenders and even tracks back – something he hasn’t even considered at previous clubs. From a goalscoring point of view though, he’s been largely a non-entity. Only Sergio Aguero and Graziano Pelle have averaged more shots than the Italian per game in the top flight, and they’ve notched 18 Premier League goals between them. Balotelli’s only two contributions have come against Ludogorets in Europe and Swansea in the League Cup.
5) Javier Manquillo
Signed on a two-year-loan, Manquillo has earned more minutes than he and probably most of us fans thought he would so far. For a 20-year-old with little experience, he’s done pretty well, and shown that he could develop into one of the better Premier League fullbacks.
4) Rickie Lambert
With two in his past two matches, Lambert has a better goals/minute ratio than Luis Suarez this season! The ageing Scouser struggled badly when when given cameo appearances from the bench early on – and this lack of sharpness meant he was poor in League Cup ties, too. He’s earned a run of starts now at least – and we can only hope he continues to find the back of the net and bring others into play.
3) Alberto Moreno
When Moreno scored our Goal of the Season so far against Spurs in the first weeks of the season, we couldn’t contain our excitement at the fact we’d found potentially our best left-back in many a year. Since then, his undoubted attacking prowess has been overshadowed by defensive mistakes, and he’s lost his place in the team – but he’s still show enough promise for us to rank him as highly as 3rd in this list – which perhaps says more about the rest of the summer business.
2) Emre Can
The German is perhaps the signing that has filled fans with the most excitement. He’s only 20-years-old, but for a half against Chelsea, he proved he can battle with Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas – the best midfield partnership in the league, and one of the best in Europe. Can’s only 20-years-old, but is already a physical brute with drive and enthusiasm. Let’s hope he’s given more game time in coming weeks.
1) Adam Lallana
Lallana has not been exceptional, and for a £26m attacking midfielder, he’s arguably been below par – but he’s still done enough to suggest he’ll be an astute signing, regardless of his transfer fee. Lallana is excellent in tight situations, and clearly has superb technical ability and inventiveness. He’ll want to increase his one goal and one assist so far in the Premier League by some margin before the season’s close, however.
