WHEN Jürgen Klopp arrived at the club just over one year ago there was much talk about the “mass exodus” he oversaw in his first summer transfer window at Borussia Dortmund as he revamped the squad with ruthless efficiency to create a squad capable of playing his style of football.
The transfer window for English clubs is now officially shut and we can turn all our attentions back to the proper footie again. Klopp’s first summer window at Liverpool has seen the biggest exodus of players in the club’s history. Fourteen players have been sold or released, with a handful more sent out on loan. Meanwhile, six new faces have been brought in, along with Marko Grujic arriving from Red Star Belgrade after his loan spell following his signing back in January.
Here’s the full breakdown of the ins and outs of summer 2016:
INS
- Joel Matip (Schalke, free transfer)
- Loris Karius (Mainz, £4.7m),
- Sadio Mane (Southampton, £30m*)
- Alex Manninger (free)
- Ragnar Klavan (Augsburg, £4.2m)
- Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle, £23m*)
* Mane’s fee could rise up to £34 million with add-ons, while Wijnaldum’s could rise to £25 million.
TOTAL: £61.9 million
OUTS
- Kolo Toure (released)
- Jose Enrique (released)
- Samed Yesil (released)
- Jordan Rossiter (Rangers, £250,000)
- Joao Teixeira (Porto, £250,000)
- Jerome Sinclair (Watford, £4m)
- Sergi Canos (Norwich, £2.5m*)
- Martin Skrtel (Fenerbahce, £5.5m)
- Jordon Ibe (Bournemouth, £15m)
- Joe Allen (Stoke, £13m)
- Brad Smith (Bournemouth, £3m*)
- Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace, £27m*)
- Luis Alberto (Lazio, £4.3m*)
- Mario Balotelli (Nice, free transfer)
* Canos’ fee could rise to £4.5m, Smith’s to £6m, Benteke’s to £32m and Luis Alberto’s to £7m.
TOTAL: £74.8 million
LOANS
- Ryan Fulton (Chesterfield)
- Danny Ward (Huddersfield)
- Adam Bogdan (Wigan)
- Ryan Kent (Barnsley)
- Jon Flanagan (Burnley)
- Allan (Hertha Berlin)
- Taiwo Awoniyi (N.E.C.)
- Andre Wisdom (RB Salzburg)
- Lazar Markovic (Sporting CP)
Not including potential add-ons, this leaves Liverpool with a profit of around £12.9m, depending on which sources you take the fees from. To set this in context, this puts Liverpool in the bottom three clubs for net spend in the league in a summer when Premier League clubs have topped the £1billion mark in transfer fees.
There is a significant section of fans who will say this shows a total lack of ambition by the owners and that Liverpool should be spending much more in order to compete with their rivals. Yet, when you look at why Liverpool’s net spend was so low this summer, much of it comes down to the hefty transfer fees recouped by selling “deadwood” on the fringes of the squad.
Liverpool’s squad has been improved without selling a single first-team starter.
The sale of Christian Benteke, a total misfit at the club, effectively covered the purchase of Sadio Mane — who looks to be the ideal fit for Klopp’s system. Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel and Jordon Ibe spent most of last season on the bench and have been shipped on for over £30m combined. This appears to be excellent business by the club.
Klopp has managed to trim the squad down to size by shifting players he felt were surplus to requirements. At the same time, he has brought in individuals specifically suited to what he wants to achieve.
Mane brings electric pace and direct running, which entirely transforms the way Liverpool attack. He already looks to be a potential star in the making — and arguably far better suited to Liverpool’s needs than Mario Gotze would ever have been.
In Joel Matip, Liverpool have secured one of the Bundesliga’s outstanding defenders on a free transfer (he was included in the team of the year for the competition by many analysts) when his market value would surely have surpassed the £20m mark had he been under contract.
Ragnar Klavan looks an astute buy for a modest fee, while Loris Karius could be Liverpool’s long-term number one keeper having cost just £4.7m. Georginio Wijnaldum is yet to fully hit his stride, and there are some concerns about his contribution so far, but the Dutchman has traditionally offered pace, energy and goal threat and longer term should add quality and depth to Klopp’s midfield options.
It has also gone under the radar that for the first time since 2014, Liverpool have not lost a key player this summer. There were murmurs of interest in Philippe Coutinho at the start of the transfer window, but the Brazilian’s services have been retained — it was crucial Liverpool kept hold of their star man.
Of course, the obvious points of concern remain. The pursuit of Ben Chilwell ended when Klopp balked at Leicester’s £10m asking price and the club decided not to follow up on any alternative left-back targets, leaving the erratic Alberto Moreno and James Milner as an auxiliary option to cover the left-back position. It’s hardly ideal.
Many fans also yearned for a quality central midfielder to partner Emre Can, but a move for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud never materialised due to the German club’s reluctance to sell another prized asset after losing Granit Xhaka to Arsenal. It means that Wijnaldum’s signing is somewhat confusing, given he is far more of an attacking midfielder. Despite much scrutiny, it appears Jordan Henderson will remain a key figure for the time being.
Let’s be clear — it is very much Klopp, not FSG, who has actively decided not to strengthen these areas this summer. As he has openly explained, none of the players would still be there if he didn’t want them to be a part of his plans.
We can complain about the lack of a left back or midfield signing all we like (and it is perfectly OK to question the manager’s decisions from time to time), but the simple matter is that Klopp chose not to pursue alternatives in these positions. We can therefore only get behind the manager and the players we have. Starting with Leicester City at Anfield.
It is worth remembering this is only the start of Klopp’s rebuilding process at Liverpool. Trying to fix everything in one summer is not possible, nor is it necessarily desirable. It may well be a case of Klopp waiting until the right targets become available, and in the meantime maintaining a stable base as he gradually moulds the squad according to his requirements.
It might have been a slightly underwhelming summer in terms of incomings, but the sales have been excellent. Klopp built his Dortmund side over a period of several seasons — success was not instantly achieved. He puts greater emphasis on training rather than transfers and he will do things in his own way.
It has been an efficient and strategic first summer for Klopp and the process of reshaping his Liverpool squad remains only in its primitive stages. It’s too early to call the transfer window a success or a failure. We must first wait and see how it all pans out.
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You said it – it’s way too early to make a call on any of this, and that includes whether or not Klavan turns out to be an astute signing or whether he was going for £4.5m for a reason. Way too early to know if Wijnaldum is the answer or whether the question needed to be asked in the first place (though points for having a name that sounds like a Victorian-era walking aid). My question: is Financial Fair Play officially dead in the water? Having seen City and United spend more than £150m each, recouping flip all in sales, I can only assume it is.
Both those sides have revenues that can swallow that kind of spending. And don’t forget, and its really boring, the way its accounted for can get round most FFP issues if they are smart
Excellent piece. The outcry to spend money just because it is available is baffling. if people feel we should strengthen in a certain position such as left back (which has been the major whinge since the Europa league final) is fine i suppose but the manager doesn’t want to. I know who i prefer making those decesions.
I’d no more take footie advice off Twitter than I’d want social media input to the architect building a mile long suspension bridge over a wide river.
You make way too much sense for the internet. Please add some vitriol. Thank you.
hopefully my final word on transfers for now…does anyone have an idea if, after pursuing Dahoud this summer, we agreed any first dibs agreement for next summer?
whatever you think of the players, we do appear to haver got smarter – and I wonder if that extended to pre-agreements for next time round..
As far as I know no agreement in place but apparantly Klopp is prepared to wait and go after him again.
Thanks for this article. Cannot fault the owners either for +12 mil as against -20 and -35 mil for past 2 yrs…I still believe they would have invested more and it was basically Klopp’s decision to make the rebuilding in phases. Again not necessarily in numbers like it was during the time of Rodgers but in cost effectiveness. Klopp would probably would like to give it a try with Moreno for one more season which if i remember is a 12 mil investment not worthy to scrap like Balo.
Not too fussed on the net spend this window for a number of reasons….
1) we already had a bloated squad so sales were a must
2) we have no European football so an already bloated squad would be trimmed further.
3) with the increased tv money player prices rose which means we received more money in.
4) we netted ourselves some bargains in Matip, Karius, Manninger and Klavan.
However I’m still concerned about our lack of defensive options.
So much common sense, I wholeheartedly agree with this balanced view even though I still harbour some doubts about the left back situation.
The morons currently posting rubbish on various social media platforms will continue to demonstrate their complete lack of football knowledge and understanding of what Klopp is doing.
Roll on Leicester it’s far too long since I was at Anfield.
Spot on article. Rebuilding requires time and patience, at least 2 seasons to fully mould the team. Absolutely hate seeing fans on Twitter talk as if the team is horrific and thus needs wholesale changes. I’d rather listen to Klopp. People tend to forget that he had to build Dortmund up for 2-3 seasons. Even Fergie had a tough time at the start. Thanks Joel! You are a sensible LFC fan.
I think it is sound business – and that is what I want from Klopp and FSG, sound business. The squad has been improved over last season and appears to have a much higher ceiling.
Hi Joel, Thanks for the article, and nice breakdown of the math with respect to the transfers.
Based on what I am seeing it looks like good numbers for the business folks at LFC. Regarding the players and cover for all areas, if you take away the injuries, then I think we might be fine (Left-backs? D-Mids? yes, I know).
It remains to be seen how Klopp utilizes these players that he’s decided to stick with and/or brought in. Is he able to adjust to the different types of opponent setups? We’ll find out within 10-15 games.
I recall distinctly how much criticism Brendan Rogers received for making comments about not having the tools, etc. Klopp hasn’t sounded this type of rhetoric in his interviews/conferences; I think he knows what he has picked for his “tools”.
I wish he uses them to get the Red Machine in full effect.
You’d definitely never seen Matip play before we signed him. One of the Bundesliga’s best CBs?? One of how many? Top 20? He had 4 good months in a great defensive structure with a brilliant CB next to him on his right, a quality LB to his left and a two excellent defensive midfielders in front.
When that structure was removed in the second half of the season he ranged from decent to terrible, which is the exact same level he’d displayed for the previous 3 years at Schalke.
Had it not been for an injury to Nastasic, he wouldn’t even have been in the Schalke team last season.
20million?? Schalke couldn’t get 8million for him last summer when offering him around.
“he was included in the team of the year for the competition by many analysts”
Is this meant to mean something? Whoscored included him. This is their Premier League team from last season. It shows how much their view means – https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2016/may/18/premier-league-team-season-2015-16
Mate. He played 200 games for them by 23 years old
Is that meant to mean something? He was a utility squad player during a poor era for Schalke. Became first choice CB in 14/15, was poor and replaced. Got back in due to injuries. Decent CB, nothing more.
Matip and Klavan were 1 and 2 in Bundesliga last season for Total Shots Blocked…2 and 3 for duels won (Sule #1)…Klavan at 64% aerial duels won would rank #8 among top 19 premier league defenders last year
Numbers that mean nothing
Grand, calm article. I particularly like the part where you note that this is just the beginning for Klopp. It is a process, building a team and a squad to the design he has. It will take 2 or maybe 3 more windows until we see Jurgan Liverpool mark 1.
It is a relatively slim squad for a relatively slim season. Perfect. We will see how the players left over from the Rodgers era look after a proper season under JK.
Just for the craic, how many of Migs, Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Lallana, Milner, Sturridge, Origi, Coutinho, all recent or present first teamers, still at the club, do you think JK would have brought in this summer ?
Ben Chilwell is 19 years old and surely would have gone into the youth set -up so presumably that’s why we balked at the asking price.
At a time when most other clubs have gone doolally ,spending massively over the odds on the mediocre and average, I’m chuffed with our shrewd business.Matip is the bargain of the Summer and Mane likely to be one of the stars of the season.
At Arsenal we saw about 20 minutes of the football that we are capable of and that I expect to see more regularly when we get our rhythm going
Together with the old wooden seat sales, it’s going to be a profitable year.
does it matter? Do you really think the Chinese are doing somersaults in excitement about a club that made a 30m quid annual profit?
Profit/loss is so small to be irrelevant in any well run football club these days (obviously as long as it doesn’t reach insane levels of loss). Its brand value that counts.
And as long as that cash stays in the club and doesn’t show as a dividend payment to FSG next time the accounts come round then that’s ok with me.