Liverpool: Early Transfer Movement Shows Reds Are Learning from Experience

It could be said that Liverpool learned from their mistakes the longer that their most recent season went on, and that seems to be translating from the pitch through the rest of the club.

Whereas the second half of the 2012/13 campaign didn’t contain as many errors or instances of shooting themselves in the foot as the first half of it did, off-field issues aren’t constrained by seasons. What you learn in the past you can take forward into the future, and Liverpool learned the hard way at the end of last summer’s transfer window.

The decision to loan Andy Carroll out to West Ham without first securing a replacement―widely known to be Clint Dempsey, who the Reds’ board suddenly ended up believing was too old to sanction an extra £2 million outlay on―left boss Brendan Rodgers without sufficient attacking resources during what was always going to be a difficult first season at the club regardless of any transfer failings.

Suddenly the only attacking backup to Luis Suarez was the rookie Fabio Borini and the even younger Raheem Sterling and Suso. Inexperience was reigning everywhere you looked.

Now, sensing that a repeat of last summer’s errors simply can’t be allowed to happen if the club are to make the sort of progress they crave, moves have already been made to improve and bolster the squad ahead of the 2013/14 campaign.

Jamie Carragher has retired and so experienced defensive cover was needed. Similarly, with the question marks over the future of Luis Suarez and the need to refresh the Reds’ attack ahead of the new season a new attacker would be handy, too. Liverpool have pretty much secured both players before the end of May.

With the club confirming the free transfer arrival of Kolo Toure when his contract at Manchester City expires at the end of June, according to LiverpoolFC.com, and plenty of reports indicating that the Reds have agreed a deal for the exciting Celta Vigo forward Iago Aspas (h/t Daily Mail), it is easy to see that Liverpool have been working hard.

The signing of two-time Premier League winner Toure in particular indicates a sea change at Anfield from Rodgers’ first season.

Whereas last summer the oldest player to arrive at Liverpool was winger Oussama Assaidi―who completed his switch from Dutch club Heerenveen just days after his 24th birthday―now comes the arrival of a 32-year-old Toure and Aspas, who will be 26 when the new season begins and is just coming into his prime.

The apparent interest in the young Barcelona B midfielder Luis Alberto, according to the IB Times, shows that the hunt for inexperienced talent isn’t over yet of course, but the lessons learned from Rodgers’ first season at the Anfield helm appear to be leading him towards more and more players who can provide leadership.

Of course, providing anything is going to be more difficult should the summer-long speculation that will follow Suarez end with the forward completing a transfer to Real Madrid per BBC reports, or indeed anywhere else for that matter.

The Uruguayan might be making movements behind the scenes to bring an end to his frequently eventful two-and-a-half-year spell in England, but all Liverpool can do is seek to make sure that he is leaving a healthy club behind should he move on.

If he stays then all the better of course, and at least he’ll have a few more teammates around who appear set for the battle right from the start.

Liverpool might eventually prove that they’ve learned from their past mistakes a little too late to keep their star forward at the club, but they look as though they have learned from their transfer errors and are determined not to repeat them.

That could prove hugely vital experience should a hefty sum of money be winging its way to them from Madrid for the services of Suarez any time soon.

Invest that money wisely, as the experience will have paid off.