5 Players Liverpool Sold Too Soon
As we are approaching the season of forced joviality, what better way to prelude the January transfer window with a measure of the melancholy? Liverpool will surely feel it more than most when it comes to Joni Mitchell's immortal "don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?" and their past transfer dealings.
Every side has regrets in the transfer market, with expensive mistake signings sanctioned and, more importantly, players sold too soon.
Over the last decade, Liverpool have seen several players out of the Anfield exit before perhaps regretting their decision, with some going on to perform to the same level or better for their new clubs, leaving a hole in the remaining Reds squad or representing the perfect option for a role in the near future.
So who are the players Liverpool will most regret selling too soon?
Here we profile five, with some notable omissions coming in the form of players clearly operating above the club's station, such as Javier Mascherano and Luis Suarez, who joined Barcelona in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Before we get to the leading quintet, however, a certain redheaded full-back leads our list of honourable mentions.
Honourable Mentions
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When John Arne Riise left Liverpool for AS Roma in 2008, after seven successful seasons on Merseyside, most supporters were content with the decision; the rise of Fabio Aurelio as then-manager Rafa Benitez's first-choice left-back offered the Norwegian little in terms of game time.
But as Aurelio's injury problems persisted and Riise enjoyed a solid career in Serie A and then back in the Premier League with Fulham, the Reds may have rued their decision—only now managing to fill the void with Alberto Moreno, signed a full six years after Riise's departure.
Furthermore, when Brendan Rodgers' squad was short of a tenacious, creative midfielder in the 2014/15 campaign, with Steven Gerrard's influence waning and Jordan Henderson suffering with the demands of a two-man job in the middle of the park, the Ulsterman will no doubt have regretted his decision to sell Jonjo Shelvey to his former club, Swansea City.
Similar could be argued of Daniel Agger's and Pepe Reina's moves to Brondby and Bayern Munich respectively, with Liverpool's struggles at both centre-back and in goal suggesting that both could play their part—though the pair had displayed clear signs of fading quality in their final seasons at Anfield.
Elsewhere, the surprise departure of Maxi Rodriguez in 2012 saw a true cult figure prised from the Kop's adoring clutches, though whether the Reds could consciously block the Argentinian's dream return to boyhood club Newell's Old Boys is a moral quandary.
Finally, the sales of defensive midfielder Mohamed Sissoko and left-back Emiliano Insua to Juventus and Sporting CP respectively saw the Reds let go of two potentially useful squad options in long-term problem positions, while Rodgers' decision to terminate Javier Manquillo's two-season loan from Atletico at the halfway point this summer has left current manager Jurgen Klopp worryingly short at right-back.
Nuri Sahin
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Though, like Manquillo, Nuri Sahin was not technically sold, the Turkey international's failed five months on loan from Real Madrid represents an opportunity lost for Liverpool; immediately after the club cancelled his temporary spell in January 2013, Sahin joined former club Borussia Dortmund, where he remains a key player.
Sahin's disappointing run at Liverpool was wholly due to a mismanagement from then-manager Rodgers, as the midfielder explained on his exit.
"I did not fail at Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a No. 10. But I do not play behind the strikers," Sahin told Spanish publication AS (h/t the Guardian) in 2013, "I talked to him and asked him why he was playing me there. It is not my real position. The coach could not answer me."
Sahin made 15 appearances for Liverpool in 2012/13, scoring three goals and assisting on a further three, with his strongest performance coming in a 5-2 win away to Norwich City—perhaps unsurprisingly, when he was deployed in his natural, deep-lying midfield role.
Enjoying a close relationship with Klopp, Sahin forged his reputation under the German at Dortmund.
Klopp expressed a similar surprise at Rodgers' misuse of the midfielder, telling BBC Sport (h/t This is Anfield) when in charge at Dortmund, "if you are a No. 8 or 6 and you have to as a No. 9 or 10—it’s not possible. For some guys of course it’s possible, but Nuri’s a brilliant player—not nine-and-a-half and not 10—and I don’t know why Brendan Rodgers would do this," he added.
The prospect of Sahin operating in his strongest role under Klopp at Liverpool is a welcome one, as the 27-year-old is arguably the perfect addition to the Reds' midfield ranks this season.
Alvaro Arbeloa
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When Benitez secured the £2.6 million signing of a 24-year-old Alvaro Arbeloa from Deportivo La Coruna in January of 2007, Liverpool supporters were perhaps unaware of the coup their Spanish manager had managed to pull off, but over the course of 18 months at the club, he proved his credentials as a truly great right-back.
Masterfully overseeing the departure of Champions League winner Steve Finnan in 2008, Arbeloa cemented his place as Benitez's first-choice right-back for the 2008/09 campaign, producing a plethora of top-level performances alongside the likes of Agger, Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher in the Reds' back four.
A defence-first full-back, Arbeloa provided Benitez with a like-minded option on the right flank, but the Spaniard was perhaps ultimately let down by his lack of adventure, with the Reds eventually turning to Portsmouth's Glen Johnson in 2009.
Contrasting the performances of £17.5 million man Johnson, who represented a flimsy option over his six seasons with the club—particularly under Rodgers—with those of Arbeloa at Real Madrid, the club he rejoined on his Anfield departure in 2009, suggests that this was a poor decision from Benitez.
Arbeloa has made 150 La Liga appearances for Madrid over the last seven seasons, with major honours including the 2011/12 La Liga title, the 2013/14 Champions League and the Copa del Rey in both 2010/11 and 2013/14.
With Liverpool only just this summer filling the right-back role with a capable talent in Nathaniel Clyne, Arbeloa's departure came six seasons too soon.
Dirk Kuyt
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"I had a great time and I had great team-mates. The club was great, the people were great and the people from Liverpool—the text messages, the phone calls, the e-mails, all the tweets I had on my Twitter account—it's unbelievable how much respect they showed me and it's also a bit emotional. They wished me good luck and they said that they will miss me.
"
Dirk Kuyt's touching response to the reception afforded to him on his move from Liverpool to Fenerbahce in 2012, as relayed by Ben Rumsby of the Independent, perfectly highlights the Dutchman's affinity with both the club and the city.
Kuyt was the most loyal of servants during his time on Merseyside, and his departure—though understandable, as he reasoned that "I thought that I should've played more [in my last season]"—left a sour taste in supporters' mouths.
This move came as Rodgers oversaw a changing of the guard, with Kuyt, Maxi and Craig Bellamy all leaving the club within two months of each other, and though the Ulsterman injected a much-needed, youthful energy into his Liverpool squad, the loss of the attacking trio's experience may have proved costly.
Kuyt, who enjoyed three seasons with Fenerbahce and has so far this season scored 12 goals in 15 Eredivisie games after rejoining Feyenoord at the age of 35, would have provided Liverpool with a useful option in attack over the past three seasons.
The versatile, hard-running forward is symbolic of the dogged spirit of the club—something that had been missing until recently—and Liverpool would have no doubt been better off with him in their ranks as they pursued the Premier League title in 2013/14 and struggled for form in 2014/15.
Raheem Sterling
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Raheem Sterling's move from Liverpool to Manchester City was inevitable, after the 20-year-old forward had forced the club's hand with the help of his agent, Aidy Ward.
The pair's relationship with Rodgers became untenable, and with owners John W. Henry and Tom Werner rightly backing manager over player this summer, they could do little more than sell to the highest bidder.
But with the club's backing of Rodgers becoming more questionable as the first months of 2015/16 played out, with the former Swansea City manager eventually being dismissed at the beginning of October, Henry and Werner may have privately regretted their decision.
Speaking to the Mail's Adrian Durham shortly after Rodgers' sacking, Ward said.
"The new Liverpool manager probably would have been a great fit for Raheem—passionate, disciplined in the right way, new ideas, not afraid of trying new things. He'll do great at Liverpool.
Would Raheem under Klopp have been a good scenario? Yes, 100 percent, definitely, mainly because of the person Klopp is - the passion, the drive, the emotion, wanting to achieve.
Raheem has all of this, but you won't always see it outwardly. Working with Klopp - that could have been great. He's going to get the best out of those players. It could have been a dream come true.
"
As Ward explains, "I have no issue with anyone but Rodgers," and while Sterling's move from Liverpool was an unavoidable, toxic situation for the club, given the benefit of hindsight the Reds would be better off with the 21-year-old in their ranks.
Sterling is a wonderful player with world-class potential, and the prospect of him operating in a fluid forward line under Klopp is tantalising.
Xabi Alonso
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In his autobiography My Story, as serialised by the Mail in September, Steven Gerrard said:
"It was clear Alonso was royalty after our first training session together in August 2004, and Rafa Benitez, who had been so clever to buy him in the first place, was equally stupid to sell him to Real Madrid five years later. He was, by some distance, the best central midfielder I ever played alongside.
"
Evoking his frustration at Xabi Alonso's £30 million move from Liverpool to Real Madrid in 2009, Gerrard captured the feelings of the Reds' support; this is arguably the most misguided sale in the club's recent history:
"It was a disastrous decision to sell Alonso, and especially for just £30million—which looks a snip now when you reflect on all he has achieved subsequently, both at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and with Spain, winning the Euros and the World Cup.
I blame Rafa entirely for the loss of Alonso. He could still have been playing for Liverpool six or seven years after he left in 2009.
"
Alonso did not want to leave Liverpool; instead, his hand was forced by Benitez.
"At the end of that season, speaking to Rafa, he told me the situation and that he wanted to sign other players and I could be replaced," he told the club's official website (h/t the Liverpool Echo) in 2013, later adding, "I was really happy with the team and my team-mates and felt that we could do great things."
Miserably, the player Benitez sought as Alonso's replacement was then-Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry, with Alonso describing Liverpool's pursuit of Barry as having "changed the course of my future," in an interview with The People (h/t Sky Sports) in 2010.
While Barry has enjoyed a successful career with Manchester City and Everton, the Englishman will be the first to admit he is not on par with Alonso, who remains a key player for Bayern Munich after five seasons in Madrid.
Alonso is still linked with a Liverpool return every transfer window, miserably underscoring Benitez's lack of awareness.
Statistics via WhoScored.com and Transfermarkt.co.uk.
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