“Sometimes the best thing in life is to do nothing at all” Words of Sid Lowe pre warning Barcelona in 2017 to not blow the Neymar money which they so disastrously did on Coutinho, Griezmann & Dembele. Financially crippling Barca till today. A summer where sense departed and splurging on signings seduced Laporta. Liverpool today, has had 0 incomings. A summer where they actually did
“ Stop. Think. Listen. Wait.” Klopp’s departure was more seismic than Neymar’s leaving & usually, new managers like to announce themselves with a few good men who can sing to their early work and be the conduit of change of style, tact and ethos. It hasn’t happened at LFC and for good reason. Michael Edwards has had less than six months in the role, the market is recorrecting itself and the nature of astronomical fees has been halted by the wave of conscientious accounts tiptoeing carefully around PRS. There’s no hysteria this summer because there is also ‘No Bellingham’ to be signed. Very few players are available to be bought that can have the Virgil effect, or more necessary: Rice effect, that Liverpool so desperately wanted last year after courting Lavia & Caicedo. So they’ve let the summer breathe and understood there is a squad here that needs time to mould itself post-Klopp. An evolution that can only be done without the tinkering from above. “Who is here to prove to me their career exists beyond these 12 months?” “ Who is someone who needs out, or simply is the halfway player that is serviceable but not too good for the bench?” All questions that time will be answered for Slot. So why Chiesa?
Another red arrow added to the armoury. He covers the roles of Diaz & Jota should they be injured, Gakpo should he fulfil minutes in midfield, but more importantly is a signing that smells of a last-ditch move but actually speaks to Liverpool’s efficient transfer strategy. His muscular powerful surge style of running is the Liverpool prototypical winger. But why it works is because it’s 12 million pounds of real talent. Once a star, then times change, injuries occur and memories fade. Kubo can still be signed next summer should Salah depart. You see, what makes LFC recruitment brilliant is the lack of duds. Keita and Ox are questionable but Endo & Gravenberch are not. Even if there is a dream for a DM, LFC cannot discard these players on a whim. This isn’t Chelsea. They operate to protect the value of all their squad. Hence why Minamino & Fabio Carvalho both fetched respectable fees. Chiesa plays with the same frenetic energy the Kop conjures. Even spiritually it’s a fit. He has a point to prove & will ingratiate himself with the dedication of all signings that exist in this window post-Klopp & early Arne. The air of Jurgen still lingers and the drive to achieve at Liverpool will be inhaled in the lungs of Fredrick when ceremonially announced at Anfield… Arne-ball isn’t Klopp-ball, but this signing is a continuation of the vertical match winners from the Klopp teams of the past. It’s a bridge that assures safety to see how this squad grows smoothly. It allows LFC to breathe. Next summer they may want to war in the big transfer races again. Chiesa buys them that time.