Missing out on Memphis Depay Underlines Transfer Issue Facing Liverpool
It's seven weeks until the transfer window opens and Liverpool have already missed out on one of their priority signings, with Memphis Depay having agreed a move to Manchester United.
The PSV Eindhoven attacker has agreed personal terms and will join Liverpool's rivals once the transfer window opens in June, United confirmed on Thursday.
While it may not be a surprise to see the 21-year-old opt for a move to United and therefore a reunion with former national team manager Louis van Gaal, it's a stark turnaround from the Liverpool Echo reporting that Liverpool had "received a significant boost in their £20 million pursuit" of Depay, just five days ago.
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"The Reds are keen to make the Holland international their first signing of the summer as boss Brendan Rodgers looks to bolster his squad’s firepower," wrote the Echo's chief Liverpool reporter James Pearce.
Liverpool had held talks with Depay, among others, and were considered favourites for his signature, according to the Mirror's David Maddock.
After the move to United had been announced, Pearce wrote in the Echo: "United made their move on Wednesday with Van Gaal speaking directly with Depay and once the player had made his mind up the club quickly agreed a fee with PSV."
Liverpool have therefore lost out on another target—adding to the long list of players they've sought but failed to sign over the last three years under Brendan Rodgers and Fenway Sports Group's leadership.
It's a worrying trend, and one that underlines the transfer issues facing the club this summer, especially without Champions League football.
Marquee Signings
Rodgers has gone on record saying that he wants to sign "marquee" players this summer, as reported by Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph.
"For fans and players it’s great to get those marquee players—and there are maybe one or two we need," said Rodgers after the miserable defeat at Hull City last month. "If they’re available and affordable within the model then we will look to get them."
Rodgers is keen to prioritise quality over quantity and bring in players who can immediately impact the Liverpool first team. He is certainly correct in wanting this, but will the owners give him that request? And will Liverpool even be able to attract such players?
Without Champions League football, it looks doubtful. Manchester United were able to sign quality players last summer, but only because they paid major money for Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao. Liverpool aren't in a position to do so.
Flawed Strategy
Much has been made of Liverpool's signings last summer and how many of them have so far failed to light up Anfield. But the real problem was Liverpool's flawed strategy itself.
Liverpool should have been targeting the higher calibre, so-called marquee signings last summer, thus ensuring that they would retain their place among the Premier League's top four and therefore a place in the Champions League next season, when the money from the new TV deal almost doubles.
Had they done that, they could have started to focus on more youthful signings this year. Get the here and now right, then build the future.
Liverpool did it the wrong way around. They signed players for further down the line, forgetting that in the meantime the club could go backward.
Had they prioritised improving the squad for the 2014-15 season, they could have looked to the long term with short term secured.
Now, they're left trying to play catch-up on their rivals yet again.
Wrong Priorities
Even those established players who Liverpool did sign last summer—those aged over 24, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert—were not of the quality required. Far from it. Yet £63 million was spent on that quartet.
Why somebody at Liverpool—whether it was Rodgers, the transfer committee or FSG—sanctioned the purchase of Lallana for £25 million and Lazar Markovic for £20 million, when the club already possessed two of the most promising attacking midfielders in the division in Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho is baffling.
Signing two attacking midfielders but not a striker who suited the club's style of play to back up Daniel Sturridge was flawed.
Indeed, Liverpool show signs of making the same mistakes again this summer. What the squad needs is quite clear: a striker or two, a backup goalkeeper, a right-back and quite possibly a holding midfielder of some sort.
Yet they've targeted and already lost out on Depay, and now reports in France suggest Stade Rennais' Paul-Georges Ntep (h/t This Is Anfield) has visited Melwood for talks. Both of them are predominantly wingers.
Liverpool do not need to sign a winger, it's probably at the bottom of their list of priorities this summer.
It's much like the transfer window of January 2014, when Liverpool needed a defensive midfielder or a right-back, but instead tried—and failed—to sign Mohamed Salah and Yevhen Konoplyanka. Again, two wingers.
Why the club are targeting wide players when they've barely played with wide men at any stage under Rodgers' three seasons at the club and already have Sterling, Coutinho, Markovic and Jordon Ibe is baffling yet again.
This Summer
Even if Liverpool eventually target the correct type of players they need this summer, they will have huge issues acquiring the marquee names that Rodgers says he wants.
Without Champions League football, without the riches of Manchester United or Manchester City, and having dropped from second to fifth (or lower) in the last 12 months, Liverpool will have a difficult time selling their vision.
The club need three or four quality additions, but they must be in the positions that need strengthening. If the Reds get either of those wrong again, it's difficult to see how they will be back in the Champions League any time soon.
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