5 Star Players Liverpool Wish They Had Not Sold
Raheem Sterling's seemingly inevitable departure from Liverpool this summer could well add the 20-year-old to an esteemed list of star players the club wish they had not sold.
Whatever the official stance is on Sterling's current contract standoff, both the player and club are culpable for the position the prized forward has found himself in.
Liverpool standing steadfast on a contract Chris Bascombe of the Telegraph revealed to be worth £35,000 a week signed back in 2012 significantly undervalues the player, but his supposed demands of a new deal worth north of £150,000 a week shows Sterling overvaluing his position. A miserable catch-22.
If Sterling leaves, the club will likely regret his departure on the field, and this is becoming a common trend, as these five star players Liverpool wish they had not sold show.
Our five selections, taken from the Premier League era and far from an exhaustive list, are subjectively ranked based on the void their sale left in the squad, Liverpool's inability to replace them and their overall importance to the club, among other factors.
Rounding off with the majesty of Luis Suarez, who else makes our list?
5. Daniel Agger
1 of 5
Sold to Brondby, undisclosed fee (2014)
When Daniel Agger left Liverpool after eight years at the club, it seemed like the right time for him to go. Injuries had taken their toll, and his successor, Mamadou Sakho, could only get better and better.
But vacating his vice-captaincy to rejoin Brondby last summer, Agger left a void that Brendan Rodgers has yet to replace in his squad.
"That's what we have to find—the answers to that. You have to find the solutions. It is an incredible lot of experience, game management and quality gone out of the team, but it is something we will find I am sure," Rodgers told Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo on the eve of captain Steven Gerrard's own departure.
Agger was a player of considerable experience, leadership qualities and, most importantly, loyalty to the club, and on Gerrard's move to Los Angeles Galaxy this summer, Rodgers' squad will be largely devoid of this.
On the field, too, Agger's replacement, £20-million Dejan Lovren, hardly represents an upgrade on a player who still possessed a rare ball-playing ability at the back as well as a fine defensive intelligence.
Agger's sale now looks like a big mistake.
4. Alvaro Arbeloa
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Sold to Real Madrid, £3.5 million (2009)
Another understated star whose departure is felt more achingly due to the fact Liverpool have failed to replace him is right-back Alvaro Arbeloa.
With just a year left on his contract, Liverpool allowed Arbeloa to return to Real Madrid, with then-manager Rafa Benitez bringing in the BBC Sport-reported £17.5-million Glen Johnson to take his place and declaring, "Sometimes, you have to spend a little bit more."
On Arbeloa's impending departure, Benitez declared, "Arbeloa was a good player for us last year...He would like to stay, but he knows the competition will be hard."
This season, Arbeloa has made 21 La Liga appearances for Madrid, losing just twice. Meanwhile, Johnson is set to depart the club at the end of the season having made 19 Premier League appearances, including six losses.
On paper, Arbeloa offers much less going forward, but after another season of defensive ineptitude for the Reds, a player of his quality at full-back is still coveted at Anfield.
3. Xabi Alonso
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Sold to Real Madrid, £30 million (2009)
Another player to join Madrid and leave a gaping void on Merseyside is iconic midfielder Xabi Alonso.
After five seasons with Liverpool, the club allowed Alonso to leave for La Liga, declaring at the time, "I am very grateful to Liverpool fans, they were very warm during my five years. It will be really difficult to match their appreciation. I really enjoyed those five years."
The adulation he still receives from the supporters matches Alonso's love for Liverpool. Alongside Gerrard, he is the best midfielder the club has seen in the Premier League, and he was still at the peak of his powers when he moved to the Bernabeu.
What makes Alonso's departure all the more sickly is Benitez's initial choice of replacement, as the midfielder told the People (h/t Sky Sports) in 2010, "The pursuit of Gareth Barry took some time for me to accept, and in all honesty, it changed the course of my future."
Alonso or Barry? The former's vitality in the Champions League with Bayern Munich and the latter's rapid decline in an Everton shirt this season should underline the irrevocable mistake Benitez made.
Benitez eventually replaced Alonso with Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani, who made just 28 appearances for the club.
The rise of Jordan Henderson—a different mould of midfielder—alongside Gerrard over the past four seasons has somewhat offset the void Alonso left, but he is still much missed on Merseyside.
2. Javier Mascherano
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Sold to Barcelona, £17.25 million (2010)
"We've got the best midfield in the world. We've got Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascherano," goes the famous chant that pervaded Merseyside throughout the late '00s.
That midfield was such a dominant force in the Premier League and in Europe—and one that Liverpool supporters pine for to this day.
Perhaps the most underrated member of that quartet is Argentinian defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano, now a key player for a title-winning Barcelona.
Former Liverpool left-back John Arne Riise told Sky Sports' The Fantasy Football Club (h/t Jack Briden for MailOnline) earlier this year, "I know the opposition hated playing him because he's always on your toes and always tackling you."
Liverpool no longer have that kind of player, with Gerrard a regular at defensive midfield over the past two seasons and Lucas Leiva a poor comparison due to fitness and disciplinary issues, and Rodgers' side have suffered as a result.
It can be argued that if Liverpool adequately replaced Mascherano, a large proportion of their current problems would be solved.
1. Luis Suarez
5 of 5
Sold to Barcelona, £75 million (2014)
Concluding our list, quite predictably, is Suarez.
Liverpool's failure to convert chances this season, with just 51 goals in the league with one game to go, has been their biggest downfall since the Uruguayan joined Barcelona last summer.
Suarez's 31 goals in the Premier League in 2013/14 made up a significant portion of their overall 101-goal tally, and a total of 82 goals—the sum of the Reds' current output and Suarez's contribution last term—would place them as best goalscoring outfit in the league.
It is not only Suarez's goals that Liverpool have failed to replace, however. It is more so his all-round, hard-working, tenacious style of football—he set the tone for Rodgers' dominant, high-pressing system from the centre-forward position.
There are very few players that can even come close to replacing Suarez and even fewer attainable to Liverpool, if any.
Though his station was much higher than that of the Reds, Liverpool must now be wishing they had held firmer on the sale of Suarez, one of their best ever players.
Statistics via Squawka.com and LFCHistory.net, transfer fees courtesy of BBC Sport.
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