Liverpool: Why Spurs Signing Etienne Capoue Is a Miss for the Reds

The fact of the matter is that Liverpool have no true cover for sole holding midfielder Lucas Leiva. With Tottenham set to purchase Toulouse enforcer Etienne Capoue for only £8.6 million, per Simon Jones of the Daily Mail, Brendan Rodgers missed the chance at a bargain signing that offers needed cover at three positions.

First, let's start with Liverpool's current midfield.

Aside from the aforementioned Lucas—who missed 12 league matches in 2012/13 and 26 in 2011/12—Liverpool have only Joe Allen to fill the holding role in Rodgers' 4-3-3. Anyone watching Liverpool last season knows that whatever his merits, Allen was largely unproductive, regardless of where he was positioned.

In particular, Allen was especially weak in the air, with his 0.4 victorious aerial duels per game good enough to tie for 89th place in the EPL and far behind the man starting ahead of him (1.8). That just won't do.

With zero goals and zero assists in 21 league starts for Liverpool, he has shown little to justify his fee, which brings me to 25-year-old French international Etienne Capoue. 

Capoue's last campaign could not have differed further from Allen's. For one, Capoue excels in the air. In fact, the only Premier League midfielder to average more victorious aerial duels was Marouane Fellaini, and he spent much of last season as the focal point of Everton's attack.

However, it is Capoue's offensive contribution that sets him apart from other holding midfielders.

From the holding position in Toulouse's 4-1-4-1 formation—which, in attack, can resemble a 4-3-3—Capoue managed seven goals and three assists. Far more than Lucas (zero goals, one assist), or his new teammate, Sandro (one goal, two assists).

Or you could compare his seven goals last season to longtime Chelsea holder Jon Obi Mikel, who has not scored a single goal in 182 league matches.

He was also extremely consistent, starting 34 league matches, winning six MotM awards and averaging an overall WhoScored? rating of 7.5—second only to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Ligue 1.

Finally, Capoue is positionally quite versatile, able to line up as a central midfielder and central defender in addition to defensive midfielder. In fact, his offensive capabilities to me scream potential box-to-box midfielder—another role for which Liverpool possess few options, namely Jordan Henderson.

With all that in mind, let's compare fees: 

• Joe Allen: £16,720,000
• Etienne Capoue: £8,600,000

So for £16,720,000, Liverpool attained barely acceptable cover at two positions. Meanwhile, for £8.6 million, Spurs have rather talented cover at three positions. 

For me, Capoue is a strong, versatile midfielder who would have gone a long way to strengthening Liverpool's midfield while Henderson and Allen (hopefully) continue to develop.

I consider this a missed opportunity for any team with a lack of depth at holding midfield, but particularly Liverpool, given how clearly underwhelming Lucas' understudy proved to be last season.

So, what do you think? How would you feel if Liverpool had spent £8.6 million on Capoue? Are there better central midfield targets? Have your say in the comments!