Nathaniel Clyne Arrival Sees Liverpool Getting It Right in the Transfer Market
Liverpool confirmed the signing of Nathaniel Clyne from Southampton last week, and this move has signalled another step in the right direction for the club in the transfer market.
Following a disastrous 2014/15 campaign, the Reds are getting it right ahead of the new season.
Clyne joins Danny Ings, James Milner, Joe Gomez and Adam Bogdan through the Anfield entrance as the Reds begin pre-season training this week, while £29 million Brazilian signing Roberto Firmino is expected to join up later in the summer following a gruelling Copa America in Chile.
"As soon as Liverpool showed their interest in me, I was happy and just wanted the deal to go through," Clyne said on his unveiling.
This was one that Liverpool supporters desperately wanted to go through, too—and quickly. The 24-year-old, along with his five-strong company of fellow new arrivals, represents a changing approach to the transfer market by the Reds; it is one that spells a positive future under manager Brendan Rodgers.
Firstly, the £12.5 million fee the club paid for Clyne, as reported by Andy Hunter of the Guardian, represents great value for a player who will feature for Liverpool for the long term. For the past three seasons he has been one of the best right-backs in the Premier League.
Joining Southampton from Crystal Palace, Clyne had been the subject of intense evaluation from the Saints' much-lauded recruitment team—including Paul Mitchell, the recruitment expert headhunted by Mauricio Pochettino on his move from the south coast to Tottenham Hotspur last summer—as then-manager Nigel Adkins detailed on the defender's free transfer in 2012.
According to the Telegraph, the former Southampton boss said:
"We're delighted that we can finally announce that we've brought Nathaniel Clyne into the group to help us kick onto the next level.
There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes all summer and, with [head of recruitment] Paul Mitchell and [chairman] Nicola Cortese, we work very hard behind the scenes to make things happen.
For the last three years Nathaniel has been a very attack-minded full-back who bombs on, he's got pace and he's a good one-on-one defender.
He got into the Championship team of the year last year, and for such a young age he has had a lot of first-team football in the Championship.
All being well, we can push him onto the next level now.
"
Clyne spurned a previous approach from a nosediving Wolverhampton Wanderers and ended up at a blossoming project at St. Mary's Stadium. He was part of an impressive recruitment drive that included Jay Rodriguez, Maya Yoshida, Victor Wanyama, Dejan Lovren, Steven Davis, Sadio Mane, Shane Long, Dusan Tadic, Ryan Bertrand, Fraser Forster and Graziano Pelle since Southampton were promoted back to the Premier League.
Just as Southampton rose from sheepish former Premier League regulars to top-six challengers in that three-season stretch, Clyne has developed into an elite talent during his time with the Saints.
Despite only having a year left on his contract, £12.5 million is a bargain price for a player who is at the top level of the Premier League talent scale.
"I’m not that surprised I’ve kept Glen Johnson out of the squad. I feel like I’m playing really well and, if I get a chance to play, I’ll try and prove it," Clyne told the Guardian's Dominic Fifield last November, following his first call-up to the England squad.
No Liverpool supporter will have been surprised either, as Clyne is an immeasurable upgrade on Johnson, who departed Merseyside following the expiry of his contract this summer.
Whereas Johnson is seemingly at the end of his career, with a long-term diminishing of his performances for the Reds signalling a poor return on the BBC Sport-reported £17.5 million they paid for him on his move from Portsmouth in 2009, Clyne's development is only just beginning.
"I’m proud of where I'm from," he continued to tell Fifield, recalling his childhood on Lambeth's Somerleyton estate. I remember there were signs up saying 'no ball games' until enough of us started bringing the balls out. Then they built a cage for football and games in that were all-action because the ball never goes out of play."
Clyne was built to be a Premier League right-back. Stocky yet nimble, strong yet pacy, he averaged 3.3 tackles per 90 minutes in the league last season, which is more than all but two other regular right-backs (who made over 10 appearances)—Sunderland's Billy Jones (3.4) and Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta (3.7)—while also supporting the attack diligently with driving runs up the right flank, dovetailing with Bertrand at left-back. Johnson averaged just two tackles per 90, while offering very little in attack.
"From the get-go I always wanted to be a footballer," Clyne concluded in conversation with Fifield.
Unlike the lethargic Johnson of the past three seasons under Rodgers, Clyne is a player who sweats desire and will thrive in the intensive, hardworking system that the Liverpool manager has put in place. Like Milner, Jordan Henderson, Emre Can, Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling, he is a player who suits Rodgers' ideals perfectly.
That Liverpool were so decisive in making their move for the 24-year-old is a key signal of their progress in the market this summer—establishing the primary target and getting the deal done early.
With a sixth-placed finish in the league and early exits in both the Champions League and the Europa League, as well as semi-final losses in the FA Cup and the League Cup, Rodgers' neck was on the line this summer—but instead of ripping up and starting again in terms of the manager, Liverpool have done so with their approach to the transfer market instead.
As mentioned, Liverpool are now much more decisive, moving swiftly and often relatively covertly to secure their priority signings.
The regular central-midfield role likely offered to Milner, as suggested by Mike Keegan of the Mail, saw the Reds beat Arsenal in the race for the experienced former City man; the £29 million fee paid for Firmino saw Liverpool jump in front of fellow suitors Manchester United in the race for the 1899 Hoffenheim man; the seemingly season-long flirting with Ings saw him turn his nose up at a Sky Sports-reported £12 million bid from Spurs in favour of a move to Merseyside.
Liverpool identified their targets and signed them with little fuss—a method that saw Chelsea so effortlessly walk to the title last season despite adding big-money signings Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Felipe Luis and Loic Remy last summer.
They were given time to settle, and from day one the Blues looked like the finished article under Jose Mourinho.
This is one of the key reasons why Liverpool suffered last term—only three of their eight signings—Can, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert—from last summer were in place before the start of pre-season training. Lovren, Lazar Markovic, Alberto Moreno, Javier Manquillo and Mario Balotelli all joined midway through pre-season and therefore were given little time to jell both with their new team-mates and Rodgers' tactical ideology.
There was no wonder why Moreno struggled to balance defence and attack when he was likely unsure of his responsibilities; there was no wonder why Markovic looked at odds with the physicality of the Premier League when he was thrown in with meagre preparation; there was no wonder Balotelli failed to replicate the exploits of predecessor Luis Suarez given he was signed after the season had begun.
This summer Liverpool have clearly made the decision to work fast, get their personnel in order and build with a strong pre-season, and this should see them enjoy more success in 2015/16. Milner, Ings, Gomez, Bogdan and Firmino will be ready to go from the opening visit to Stoke City.
Clyne is perhaps the best example of this approach, however, as he immediately strengthens a previously weak position.
Right-back should no longer be a problem area for Rodgers.
The arrival of Clyne from Southampton this summer highlights a wider success in the transfer market for a swiftly developing Liverpool side—this transfer window, the Reds are getting it right.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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