Contribution by Asa Clark @cfcasa
Last summer Gareth Bale was sold to Real Madrid for a massive £85m.
At the time, Tottenham fans were wishing him well and said they had to let him go because the money was too good to turn down. They’d be right in thinking that.
If you’re offered that kind of money, then you simply have to take it – especially a club like Spurs. They’ll be lucky to see that sort of money be offered for another one of their players for a very long time.
When looking at the signings they were making, alarm bells should have been ringing. £30m on Erik Lamela – who had a disastrous season – then there was £26m spent on Roberto Soldado.
They used the scatter gun approach by spending all the Gareth Bale money on players who struggled to make a real impact to the team and some could even be sold or loaned out this summer.
Liverpool are now in that exact same position. Luis Suarez to Barcelona for £75m is money that Liverpool can’t turn down. What is their response to selling their prized striker? Bringing in Rickie Lambert from Southampton.
Good player that Lambert is, is he really going to help them get Champions League football? Its highly doubtful. And the fee wasn’t a massive amount considering that he had a very good season last year.
And where is the rest of the money going though? £26m for ex-Saints captain Adam Lallana.
Bare in mind that ex-Bayern Munich star Toni Kroos, who has just won the World Cup with Germany, has signed for Real Madrid for just £4m more.
Haven’t Liverpool learned anything from the mistakes Tottenham Hotspur made? Players are and have been available for very good prices in previous seasons.
Philippe Coutinho was bought for £10m – a great player who was struggling in Serie A and was deemed not good enough for Inter Milan. Looking at his performances from last season, you’d think he’ll be one of the players to watch this year.
Daniel Sturridge was another one, picked up for £12m. The players are out there for Liverpool.
Last year they finished second in the Premier League and Luis Suarez was a massive reason why they finished so high, so you’d think they’d go out and spend the money on world class players rather than average Premier League players.
Take a look at all the other top clubs who are signing absolute proven world class players. Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea, and even though Manchester United have singed Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, they too are going all out to buy players that will help push them on.
If Liverpool really want to win the Premier League and be strong contenders in Europe once again, then they are going about it the wrong way. They seem to be using the scatter gun approach, just like Spurs.
The current talks with QPR’s Loic Remy suggest that. If they aren’t careful, they could see themselves not only falling out of the title race but out the top four, too.
To win titles these days, it’s not about buying bargain players or paying silly money for players who they think will become good players. It’s about buying clever and spending the money that needs to be spent on world class ones.
If Liverpool are to remain title contenders, then they need to take a serious look at the players they’re signing and the message that sends out to other potential players.
Asa Clark
Twitter: @cfcasa
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