Has there ever been a bigger case of ‘What could have been?’ than Ryan Babel…?
When we signed him in 2007 from Ajax, the same summer we acquired Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid, the world looked a bright and exciting place for a Liverpool fan!
We had Rafa Benitez at the helm and were consistently reaching the latter stages of the Champions League.
Babel was supposed to inject the pace and skill we needed, and at first glance, it seemed he’d do just that, Nine years ago, he scored this lovely goal against Derby – his first for the club.
Pictures via @Jordan_AC90, Twitter
On this day 9 years ago, Ryan Babel scored his 1st LFC goal and made me think we’d signed a genuine world beater⚡️ pic.twitter.com/n9VkXqHLVl
— Jordan Chamberlain (@Jordan_AC90) September 2, 2016
The Dutchman, 21 at the time, put two Rams defenders on the floor and finished beautifully – but now aged 29 – he’s at Al Ain in the UAE, with his career downward spiralling ever since he left in 2011.
Such a shame, but we can appreciate what he *could* have been just by seeing the skill involved to score this goal.