Liverpool Transfer News: Reds' Summer in Line with Ian Ayre's 5-Year Plan

Liverpool's busy 2014 summer transfer window was perfectly in line with Ian Ayre's ambitious five-year plan for the club, and it will lay the groundwork for the long-term success the Reds so desperately crave.

As reported by ITV, the club's chief executive spoke about the long journey the club has made since the days of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, visibly pleased with where the Reds are now under Brendan Rodgers:

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It is great for our supporters because they went through a difficult time and it is always devastating to see such a great tradition and establishment as Liverpool being in such great difficulty.

It taught us the importance of sustainability and running the club properly. No-one wants to go back to those dark days again.

[...]It was a five-year plan and I am pleased to say it has been successful on all fronts, and the club has not been in such great health.

It is pleasing to know we are on a great footing, have fantastic owners who believe in sustainability, believe in putting the club where it should be and treating it with the respect it should have.

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One of the most storied clubs in all of football, it took Liverpool nearly four years to re-establish themselves as a top club in the Premier League after the disastrous end to the tenure of the previous owners.

The Reds have since come a long way, building a young, exciting squad and re-igniting the interest of millions of overseas fans. Liverpool is a global brand, and the international appeal of the club has greatly improved over the course of the past two years.

Bogdan Maran/Associated Press

With Financial Fair Play now governing how clubs must act in the transfer market, Liverpool's business method is one plenty of clubs should aspire to. The focus on youthful talent has already paid dividends on a financial level, as the sale of Luis Suarez allowed Rodgers to strengthen his squad with a number of young stars.

The fans are optimistic, but realistic—the Reds will likely not contend for the 2014-15 Premier League title. There was too much turnover during the summer, the squad is too young and the loss of Suarez will have an impact. Even Ayre agrees:

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We have to be realistic and ambitious and optimistic at the same time.

Brendan said very recently finishing in the top four and qualifying from our Champions League group would be our two core objectives.

You could say progress would be winning one more game and winning the league (they finished two points behind City), but as long as we acquit ourselves as we did last season I think we will be in great shape.

You set out to win, but we were very pleased with where we got to and surpassed all our expectations.

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After all, the Reds just entered Year 4 of Ayre's five-year plan. The club may be ahead of schedule, but a title was never an expectation in 2014-15 (although it will always be the goal).

The Reds will still be very good in 2014-15, and there's no reason to believe silverware in some form is not an option. The Sunday Times' Duncan Castles agrees:

But far more important is the positivity surrounding the team, and the business model that has led to it. The arrivals of the likes of Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic and Alberto Moreno would have been unthinkable three years ago.

These are young, potentially world-class players with plenty of room for growth and marketability to boot. As shared by The Associated Press' Rob Harris, Balotelli's shirt sales on the first day alone were impressive:

Four years ago, these players likely wouldn't have joined the Reds. As a club, Liverpool was frequently mocked by fans of rival clubs, and the supporters were told all they did was "hold on to the past."

It's telling how far the Reds have come since then. Not only did they add the type of young talent other top clubs were reportedly after (per the Telegraph's Chris Bascombe, Markovic was a Chelsea fan), they also added star power to replace a departing star of their own.

Sustainability is the keyword here. Liverpool aren't a selling club—they're an exciting brand slowly building toward success. Just like Ayre had foreseen it.

Bogdan Maran/Associated Press

The young core of players will now grow into their potential, and by the end of the 2015-16 season (when Ayre's five-year plan should be completed), there's no reason to believe they won't rival the Premier League greats for the title.

Anfield once again has the kind of appeal in the transfer market it had in the past, and with some of the most loyal and vocal fans in all of sports, Liverpool's brand is stronger than ever.

The summer of 2014 falls perfectly in line with those plans. It was one of optimism and the promise that the sustained success is here to stay. Reds fans no longer have to cling to the past, because the future looks incredibly bright.

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