FSG Chose This Transfer Model, I’m Tired Of Defending It

We are almost there. The Premier League season is about to begin, the transfer window is disappearing before our eyes, and Liverpool suddenly appear to be frantically trying to sort out moves in and out of the club.

My question is a fairly obvious one.

Why now?

We have had eleven weeks to do this. Eleven weeks to assess the squad, identify the weaknesses, move players on and give Andoni Iraola what he needs. Instead, Liverpool have reached the final ten days of the window with Curtis Jones heading towards Inter Milan, Bradley Barcola still waiting to be completed, Cody Gakpo potentially leaving, another winger apparently being considered and, finally, some discussion about signing the defensive midfielder I have been banging on about all summer.

Any idea that this has been some beautifully orchestrated master plan has disappeared for me.

Liverpool are scrambling.

Jones Exit Must Lead To A Midfielder

Curtis Jones looks like he is going to Inter Milan.

The reported package is around €30 million plus €5 million, with Liverpool also getting a 10% sell on clause. With Curtis entering the final year of his contract, I can understand the deal. I have said for a while that Liverpool either needed to extend him or sell him because allowing another player to drift towards the end of his contract would be ridiculous.

If he wants Inter, let him go.

What happens next is far more important.

Liverpool need a defensive midfielder.

We need one badly.

That was true before Jones potentially left and it remains true now. Trey Nyoni can inherit plenty of Curtis Jones’ minutes because I think the kid has earned that opportunity. I do not want Liverpool buying somebody simply to block his pathway.

A proper defensive midfielder is different.

Angelo Stiller has been mentioned. Tyler Adams has been mentioned. Adam Wharton is obviously somebody I would love Liverpool to sign if the finances make sense.

I am not going to pretend I know which one Liverpool will pursue, but I genuinely cannot understand how anybody can watch this team and conclude that another defensive option in midfield is unnecessary.

Barcola Should Have Been Done Weeks Ago

Then there is Bradley Barcola.

I remain as confident as I have ever been that he becomes a Liverpool player.

Nothing has changed.

Journalists are ready. From what I understand, people around Liverpool’s medical operation are prepared. I have absolutely no concern about Manchester City suddenly appearing or Arsenal hijacking the deal.

I believe Barcola will play for Liverpool.

My irritation is that we are still talking about it.

Why?

This could have been done weeks ago.

Every additional day matters because Barcola needs time with Iraola. He needs to understand the press, learn the patterns of play and build relationships with the players around him.

Instead, Liverpool have dragged this out and dragged this out, and here we are approaching the season still waiting.

There comes a point where squeezing another few million out of a negotiation becomes less valuable than having the footballer actually training with your manager.

We have reached that point.

Get it done.

Mystery Winger Makes Gakpo Situation Fascinating

What I find particularly interesting now is the suggestion that Liverpool are looking at another winger.

And I do not mean Mbaye.

There appears to be another player under consideration, somebody whose identity even journalists are struggling to establish.

That certainly has my attention.

Ibrahim Mbaye has obviously been heavily linked. We know about the meetings with his representatives and we know the reporting from France has been far more bullish than what we are hearing in England.

But if Liverpool have another winger they prefer, who is it?

And what does that mean for Cody Gakpo?

Fabrizio Romano continues to indicate that Tottenham’s interest remains alive. If Liverpool sanction that move, I cannot believe they allow Gakpo to leave without having another attacker ready.

Liverpool would be losing a senior forward who provides goals and experience. You cannot simply remove that from Iraola’s squad and hope one of the kids fills the gap.

So perhaps this mystery winger is important.

Maybe Gakpo leaves, Barcola arrives and another attacker follows.

If that happens, brilliant.

But once again, we are talking about an awful lot of moving parts with almost no time remaining.

FSG Have Chosen To Operate This Way

This is where my frustration with FSG comes back into it.

Liverpool are not poor.

I keep hearing conversations about what the club can afford, as though we are wandering around checking behind the sofa cushions before submitting a bid.

Liverpool have enormous revenues.

FSG have seen the value of their investment increase dramatically.

This club has the financial capacity to be more aggressive in the transfer market. The owners choose the model under which Liverpool operate.

That is their right.

And it is my right as a supporter to say I do not think it is good enough.

I have no problem with sustainability. I do not want Liverpool throwing money around like lunatics or spending hundreds of millions on players the recruitment department does not believe in.

I want planning.

I want decisive recruitment.

I want the squad ready for the manager when pre season starts, rather than watching everybody run around during the final days of August trying to complete deals that should have been addressed long before.

We have seen rivals strengthen.

We have watched Liverpool’s weaknesses throughout pre-season.

We have known which players could leave.

None of this has suddenly appeared overnight.

So if Jones goes, sign the midfielder.

Get Barcola completed.

Make a decision on Gakpo and this mystery winger.

If another right back is required, sort that too.

I will happily praise Richard Hughes and FSG if Liverpool somehow emerge from these final days with a squad capable of giving Iraola everything he needs.

But I am not applauding them merely for eventually doing work that should have been completed weeks ago.

Liverpool have spent most of the summer telling supporters there is plenty of time.

Now there isn’t.

The clock is ticking.

Get cracking.

Much love.