The fact that Liverpool made a profit during last season’s summer transfer window made big headlines at the time.
Big fees were recouped on the likes of Christian Benteke and Jordon Ibe, but the Reds decided against going for more players than the seven they did with the spare cash they generated.
The lack of a new left-back had many people perplexed, whilst there were fears over the size of the squad, even without European football to contend with.
A few months into the season, and qualms over James Milner’s suitability in his new role and the wisdom of spending £25million on Gini Wijnaldum were dismissed; Jurgen Klopp was being hailed by all as a genius by reinventing instead of spending.
Nevertheless, the drop out of the title race since then has seen questions raised over the business completed by Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool last summer. A genius in December became a fool by February, as people went back on previous comments about his astute dealings, and criticised him.
Criticism of signings, or a lack of them, of course, never arrives when the team is playing well. Instead, it is built up and exaggerated when there is a run of poor form on the pitch. It is easy to say you needed more players with hindsight.
Whether Klopp made the right call last summer can be debated endlessly, but there will be no repeat of the profit in 2017: Liverpool are ready to spend this time around.
It seems that every summer, at least at Anfield, the upcoming transfer window is more important than ever before, but this time that is truer than ever before.
Manchester City are always able to spend big, and in Pep Guardiola they have the biggest coach in the world, now adapted to the demands of English football, with which to lure the top talent.
Chelsea look like the best team in the country by a mile at the moment, and they have the money available from the sale of Oscar to China to go big once again, and build even more on what will surely be a title win this year. Money and the attraction of living in London is tempting for any potential arrival.
Arsenal, too, have the advantage of being in London, and also look like they might have a new manager for the first time in over twenty years. While the impact of that is not yet clear, if Arsene Wenger does go they are likely to spend more than ever before in order to reshape the squad.
Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil could both leave the Gunners as well, and they would be in the market for the biggest name players possible to replace the duo.
Manchester United can attract the best players even without Champions League football, as proven by the acquisitions of Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic last summer. Money is no object, and throwing enough of it at a player will convince him that Champions League football is not essential, at least in the short-term.
Liverpool, though, are in no such position. Last year, the likes of Mario Gotze were wanted, but they refused to come, in the German’s case returning to Borussia Dortmund, because Anfield could offer no European games. The Europa League might have helped, but even that was not achieved.
Others players too, like Ousmane Dembele, also now at Dortmund, were chased. Liverpool offered a bigger transfer fee to Rennes and larger wages to the player, but he opted for Dortmund regardless.
This time around, Liverpool need quality over quantity, but that only arrives with a top four place wrapped up.
The likes of Naby Keita at RB Leipzig and Alexander Lacazette of Lyon are on Klopp’s wishlist, but there is no chance of either deal coming off if Liverpool are not competing at the highest level next season.
Keita in particular is coveted by the biggest and the best – Liverpool will compete with wages and transfer fees when the time is right, but without Europe that will not make any difference at all.
There is no doubt that some of the signings that Liverpool made last season have worked well – the aforementioned Wijnaldum was superb against Arsenal and has been a huge contributor at times, whilst Sadio Mane has been one of the outstanding performers in the country.
There is doubt, though, as to whether Wijnaldum would still have been signed had top target Mario Gotze been attained first, or if Mane would have been bought had bigger names been realistic targets.
Wijnaldum has been better for Liverpool than Gotze would have been, it appears, but this is more than exception than the rule itself. Generally, the players available to those in the top four are better than the others, unless you offer silly money to compensate.
When it comes to the biggest names this summer, Liverpool have a chance. Kylian Mbappe, Douglas Costa and Julian Brandt are all realistic targets for Liverpool if they get into the top four, and they would take them to the next level. Without Champions League football, however, those names will certainly never be delivered.
This summer really is the biggest in Liverpool’s recent history, and the success of it depends entirely on their league position this year.
Getting into the top four this year would unlock potential for years to come; failure to do so could set the Reds back a few more years.
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