Liverpool are in 6th place as of February, making them the reigning champions who have not qualified for the Champions League. It is therefore surprising that the only move in this transfer window is the signing of a £60m centre-back who won’t even arrive until the summer.
The decision to bring in Jeremy Jaquet shows that Liverpool are committed to a long-term rebuild of the squad and sends a clear message to Arne Slott that solutions must be found from within if they are to recover from what has been such an underwhelming season.
Liverpool still have two cup competitions to play, one in Europe and one domestically, so they have a lot to overcome, but there’s still potential for a spectacular finale. However, given the impact injuries have had on Liverpool’s defence, the head coach has more immediate tasks to attend to.
At right-back, Conor Bradley is out for the season and Jeremy Frimpong has concerns over his fitness. Liverpool’s player of the season, Dominik Szoboszlai, has been forced to deputize out of position. Late interest in Lutcharel Giltruida came to nothing.
In the center of defense, things are looking a little better due to Giovanni Leoni’s long-term absence. Ryan Gravenbirch and Wataru Endo had to fill the last spot. Ibrahima Konate had to cut short his compassionate leave to play in the win against Newcastle.
That’s why missing out on Marc Gehi continues to be a source of frustration. It was disappointing enough for Liverpool supporters that no deal was completed on deadline day in the summer. This window saw him move to Manchester City, and the wound was reopened.
City’s signings of Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, aged 25 and 26 respectively, have been widely praised as they instantly strengthen the squad with proven Premier League players. That gets to the heart of the matter for Liverpool. They are clearly in a period of transition.
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Last season’s title win was ostensibly the beginning of a new era in slots, but it increasingly feels like the end of it. Anfield greats Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have signed new contracts, but all three, along with Alisson, are now 33 years old.
Liverpool’s decision-makers knew they had to build the next team. There was hope that, as champions, they could do it from a position of strength. Alexander Isak still appears to be on the loose, but the rest of the summer’s business fit into that strategy.
Hugo Ekitike (23 years old) and Florian Wirtz (22 years old) are special talents who are on the brink of their best years yet. Milos Kerkes was installed as a long-term replacement for Andy Robertson, who is around 10 years older, with hopes the Scot’s presence would help with the transition.
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Jamie Carragher suggests Hugo Ekitike is a better player than Fernando Torres
These signings followed the template previously used by Michael Edwards to take Liverpool to this level under Jurgen Klopp. I recall a conversation I had with Ian Graham, Liverpool’s former research director, about plans for this team.
He argued that Liverpool’s success during this period, when the signings of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah helped them win promotion to the Premier League, was not just about who they brought in at the time, but when they brought them in.
“The most successful players were one or two players who were 23, 24, 25 years old. All the players who were very successful were in that age group. I think it was Julian Ward who came up with the phrase that you need a career before you have a career at Liverpool.”
One of the lessons of building a title-winning team is that it always has a core of players at their peak age. The average age may be appropriate for a team packed with young players and veterans, but it will be difficult to create the stability needed.
Graham’s personal preference was “always on the high risk side. I wanted to take risks on young players”, but admitted that “when qualifying for the Champions League becomes the minimum goal, the risk/reward changes a little bit”.
It feels like a reasonable balance following Jaquet’s transfer. The young French defender is highly rated and has already established himself at Rennes, playing in the so-called Physical League. However, despite this potential, there is no doubt that this is a contract that carries some degree of risk.
That’s not a criticism of the jacket, it’s just a fact. If you sign someone after starting 31 games in the top flight, their future trajectory is uncertain. And, as with Leoni’s serious injury, everything from form and fitness to periods of inactivity on the bench can adjust that trajectory.
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Pundit reveals surprise that Jeremy Jaquet won’t arrive at Liverpool until summer
The evidence suggests that adding more experienced players to Premier League squads is a challenge. Graham also pointed that out. “If you look at the number of players who actually became starters, we added three starters every year from 2016 to 2019.”
He added: “Despite us making fewer transfers and spending less net than other clubs, no other club has integrated so many star players. And what that means is that the transfers they made were less likely to become regular stars.”
It may help explain why Liverpool have found this campaign to be more difficult than most expected. Overhauling is difficult, even for the most talented new employees. Ekitike and Wirtz’s growing understanding only shows that it will take time.
Slots have their detractors, and rightly so. But the victories he won with Klopp’s side could easily be overturned. Just as the German might have found success with his stable team a year ago, he may have faced similar challenges in managing this transition period.
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Arne Slott says the club must make “wise” decisions in the transfer market
As for Jacket, I’m excited about his potential, so maybe he could partner up with Van Dijk in August and become a Liverpool legend himself. Richard Hughes and others will be optimistic that their long-term thinking will pay off in time.
Slots don’t have the luxury of thinking that far ahead. “We’re not trying to weaken the team, we’re trying to strengthen the team,” he said on the eve of Deadline Day. “Let’s see when the window ends.” The second half of this season ends without any reinforcements.
The future of slots may be decided during this time. Like their season, it’s balanced. Liverpool could win the Champions League, or they could not even qualify. There is a lot of talk about the outcome of the transfer window, but the answers, as always, must be found on the pitch.
