Liverpool losing out to London
Reputation alone no longer enough
AS Brazilian midfielder Willian underwent his Tottenham Hotspur medical he became the latest in a series of former Anfield targets who had taken a detour to north London.
Liverpool were also interested in Roma’s Erik Lamela but he, too, appears to be heading into the arms of Andre Villas-Boas.
On deadline day a year ago, it was Clint Dempsey, Liverpool’s summerlong chase ending at the 11th hour when the American international left Fulham. A few weeks earlier, Gylfi Sigurddson opted for a more lucrative contract at Spurs, much to the despair of Brendan Rodgers, who had managed the Icelandic international at Swansea.
Go back another 12 months and even Liverpool’s efforts to sign Brad Friedel as back-up to Pepe Reina were undone when Harry Redknapp convinced the American he would get more first-team action at Tottenham.
It was even suggested Liverpool had to fight off Spurs’ late move for Daniel Sturridge last December.
There is a gag on discussing players at Merseyside as Melwood is swept for bugging devices marked with a cockerel crest, though when they are discovered Rodgers will simply whisper the names of numerous duff targets in the hope that VillasBoas blows the rest of the Gareth Bale cash on less coveted players.
The reality, of course, is less to do with Spurs discreetly shadowing Liv- erpool’s every move and more a consequence of two clubs operating in the same market, for similar-calibre stars, with the same ambitions of breaking the Champions League stranglehold the two Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal currently hold.
For Liverpool to be overlooked for top-four teams is understandable; that Spurs are now perceived as a more likely Champions League participant next season is more galling.
It’s an uncomfortable truth that has been creeping up on Liverpool for the past few years — a fact John W Henry recently acknowledged — that reputation alone is not enough and Liverpool must get back into Europe to win the off-field as much as the onfield scraps.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan delivered the first major blow of the summer, joining Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund.
Two weeks ago, Diego Costa and his representatives expertly exploited serious Liverpool interest to secure a new deal at Atletico Madrid.
Steven Jovetic also met Liverpool representatives before accepting a move to Manchester City.
There is a tendency to look beyond the most obvious reason why this has happened, but the fact is joining Liverpool is not the summit of the am- bitions of every top footballer. Spurs, even if their European participation is of the less glamorous variety, are a bigger draw.
It’s not simply about finances and it is certainly not about the ambition of the owners, who are eager to spend but will not compromise on their refusal to repeat past mistakes of overpaying for underperformance.
In all these summer deals, Liverpool are not just paying the price for finishing 7th, 6th, 8th and 7th in successive seasons, but also for all those high-profile transfer failures, which Henry has scrutinised.
He is adamant that, while more time consuming, the current approach of standing firm on valuations will yield longer-term stability and success. In both the Willian and Mkhitaryan cases, Liverpool thought a deal was in place but were then asked for more money when a rival entered the bidding. That said, both players would have been at Anfield if that’s what they really wanted.
Now the club is assessing other targets, prepared to shrug off dissent at losing Willian.
“A year ago, we were getting slaughtered for not signing Dempsey. Would anyone suggest walking away was not the correct move now?” was how one Liverpool official put it.
Liverpool bought Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge instead of Dempsey and Sigurdsson. If their scouts deliver similarly sound alternatives, the blow of losing another target to Tottenham will be softened.
Liverpool centre-half Sebastian Coates could miss most of this season with a knee injury. The Uruguayan, whom Liverpool were hoping to sell to raise funds, has undergone tests for the injury, which, if confirmed, would wreck his chances of senior football for the foreseeable future.
It’s believed he suffered the knock on international duty last week. —