“Why did they…” – Roy Keane claims Liverpool made a huge mistake in the summer transfer window

Roy Keane has scolded Liverpool over what he believes was a fundamental error by the club in the summer transfer window.

The Reds laid down a serious statement of intent by spending more than £400m on new players since the end of last season, with two club-record additions in Florian Wirtz and latterly Alexander Isak.

However, the Premier League champions were thwarted in their pursuit of Marc Guehi as, despite agreeing a £35m deal with Crystal Palace on deadline day, the Eagles blocked the move at the 11th hour as they didn’t want to lose their captain.

Keane says Liverpool should’ve moved sooner for Guehi

Speaking on The Overlap, Keane seemed surprised that Liverpool didn’t put in an offer for the England international much earlier in the summer and suggested that leaving it to the end of the window was a mistake on their part.

The Sky Sports pundit said: “That’s where there’s pluses to getting your business done [early]. I know it’s not the case for every club, but get your business done early if you can…Why did they wait so late?”

He added: “I’m amazed. We give Liverpool a lot of praise for getting their business done, but get that one over the line.”

Liverpool still had a solid transfer window despite Guehi near-miss

As per The Athletic, the reason why LFC waited until the last to submit an offer for Guehi was because they knew he wanted the move to Anfield and there was no competition from other clubs, so they were prepared to bide their time and stick to their £35m valuation.

Knowing that Palace chairman Steve Parish was eager not to lose the defender on a free transfer next summer, the Reds believed that their gamble would’ve paid off, and it looked like it was going to until Oliver Glasner’s last-gasp intervention.

While we can understand why Keane has questioned Liverpool for not moving for the 25-year-old much earlier, it wasn’t as if Richard Hughes was scrambling around in a late August trolley dash like a desperate consumer doing their Christmas shopping on 24th December.

The deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili was in place since last summer, while Jeremie Frimpong was signed by the end of May, with Milos Kerkez and Wirtz arriving in June. Hugo Ekitike then came through the door a month later before Giovanni Leoni joined in mid-August and Isak on deadline day.

Perhaps the Anfield hierarchy could’ve made their move for Guehi sooner, as Palace probably wouldn’t have pulled the plug if they felt they still had time to bring in a replacement.

On the whole, though, Liverpool’s summer transfer business was completed in a sound and structured manner, with additions staggered throughout the window rather than being rushed in the final fortnight.