On The Ball | Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool need to tinker, but sense will rule in silly season
- While two summer windows of inactivity would appear to verge on the absurd, the Premier League champions can afford to be choosy in the transfer market
- With Manchester City emboldened by the decision to reverse their two-year ban in the Champions League, Liverpool will need to improve
The season ends and the silly season begins. Liverpool’s triumphant title campaign is not yet over but the biannual frenzy of transfer speculation has already begun. It will go into overdrive a week on Monday when the summer window for sales opens.
Traditionally, Anfield has conducted its best business from a position of strength. In the 1970s and 80s the rationale was simple: buy after success to build on victory. Players want to join clubs that win trophies. Alex Ferguson and Manchester United took a similar approach. It works.
Liverpool’s recent policy seems to fly in the face of such logic. They did not upgrade in any significant manner after winning last year’s Champions League. There were concerns that this would leave the squad short-handed but those worries proved unfounded.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had the Premier League in their grasp long before the season was put on hiatus in March. Can they repeat the trick? Some of the policies of Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have been counterintuitive over the years but two summer windows of inactivity would appear to verge on the absurd.
Fans are concerned that Timo Werner was allowed to go to Chelsea. Red Bull Leipzig’s asking price of £48 million was judged to be too high in an environment where coronavirus is hitting revenues. This should not be read as a declaration that Liverpool will not be spending over the next few weeks.
