Liverpool Must Continue with Hardline Stance over Youth in the Transfer Market
For Liverpool supporters, much of the focus on the opening of the summer transfer window was on big names, with incomings and potential outgoings indicating another major reshuffle of the first-team squad—prompted by manager Jurgen Klopp, overseeing his first pre-season in the dugout on Merseyside.
Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic received his work permit to take up his role in Klopp's new-look squad at the beginning of July, as reported by the club's official website, while a pair of imports from the Bundesliga arrived at Liverpool's Melwood training facility in goalkeeper Loris Karius and defender Joel Matip.
Klopp's biggest acquisition to date stands as Senegalese forward Sadio Mane, signed from Southampton for £30 million. The 24-year-old's arrival is likely to be offset by the departure of Christian Benteke, with Crystal Palace offering a deal worth up to £31.5 million, according to the Guardian's Dominic Fifield.
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Benteke will likely be followed by Martin Skrtel, Adam Bogdan, Joe Allen, Luis Alberto and Mario Balotelli, among others, as the German remoulds his first-team squad.
But while Liverpool's perennial overhaul continues this summer, one significant change is already in motion in the club's approach to their youth ranks in the transfer market, with a new hardline stance from owners John W. Henry and Tom Werner—no doubt influenced by Klopp—setting a positive example.
This can be seen through the treatment of a variety of young players already ahead of 2016/17 and must continue if Liverpool are to re-establish themselves as a formidable presence in the transfer market—and hold on to their best academy talent.
Jerome Sinclair and Liverpool's Wage Structure
"I like Jerome, he is a real talent and if he wants to stay with us no problem. If not, we cannot force it," Klopp told reporters of Liverpool's youngest-ever player, Jerome Sinclair, in January.
Sinclair was locked in contract talks with the club at the turn of the year, and having appointed Aidy Ward—the controversial agent who negotiated Raheem Sterling's acrimonious exit from Anfield six months previous—as his representative, the players' wage demands were seemingly at odds with Liverpool's vision.
As Klopp continued to discuss Sinclair's situation, with Watford already linked with a move for the striker, he revealed a nuanced view of young players and the growing desire for an immediate pay-off:
"As a club you cannot make younger players happy. That is not possible. It is not the first job.
Like in normal life if it is not easy for you to be happy then no-one can help you but what we try to do is create a situation where younger players know it is not important to get the highest wages in your life in the first year of your career.
It is more important to get the real education and that is what we want to try.
First of all you need young players who want to learn and if we can create a situation where they feel it is the right place to learn then everything is good.
"
Klopp's focus was on providing a strong foundation for development rather than financial prosperity, with potential rewards to come later—arguably, when players have earned it on the field, as with Jordon Ibe in May 2015, with the winger signing an improved five-year deal after an impressive 2014/15 campaign.
With Liverpool and Sinclair unable to agree on extended terms, the 19-year-old agreed to join the Hornets, mirroring the decision of his former academy team-mate, Jordan Rossiter, who left the Reds to link up with Scottish Premiership side Rangers this summer.
Though there was no clear indication that Rossiter's stalled contract talks were due to the midfielder's wage demands, reports from the MailOnline's Stephen McGowen that he had signed a £10,000-a-week contract to join Mark Warburton's side suggested his switch was smoothed over by financial incentive.
Rossiter moving north of the border saw Liverpool receive just £250,000 in compensation, but with Sinclair joining another English side—and being under the age of 24 when doing so—the Reds were in a position to contest his value.
Likely fearing the precedent set by Danny Ings' record compensation fee of up to £8 million following his move to Anfield from Burnley, agreed by tribunal and reported by the Guardian's Andy Hunter, Watford resolved to settle on a fee of £4 million to sign Sinclair at the end of May, as relayed by the MailOnline's James Dutton.
Liverpool's official website described discussions with Watford to have been "amicable and professional," and the latter seems applicable, given the club's ruthless approach to selling their young players this summer.
Sergi Canos and the Buy-Back Clause
Sinclair's £4 million departure offset the majority of the £4.7 million paid to sign potential No. 1 goalkeeper Karius from Mainz, with this "professional" approach showcasing a refined business sense apparent in negotiations over the sale of 19-year-old Spanish winger Sergi Canos.
Canos made his debut for Liverpool on the final day of the 2015/16 Premier League season, appearing as a second-half substitute as Klopp led a youthful side to a 1-1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion.
"Today one of my dreams came true," Canos told the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce after the game, but, not even two months later, the former Barcelona youth looks set to call time on that dream and leave the club.
With one year left on his current contract with the Reds, Canos' representatives entered contract talks with the club ahead of the summer, but following a stall in negotiations, Liverpool pulled the plug on their offer.
As with Sinclair, and likely Rossiter, before him, Canos' inflated demands look to have scuppered his chances of a long-term future under Klopp—with Joe Rimmer of the Liverpool Echo revealing the youngster's desired wage to again be £10,000 a week.
Liverpool have now accepted bids of around £2.5 million from both Bristol City and Norwich City, according to Sky Sports' Lyall Thomas, and while this would represent a paltry return for a teenager who impressed so thoroughly on loan with Brentford in 2015/16, the terms of agreement favour Merseyside.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo's Neil Jones, Liverpool "will insist upon a buy-back clause" in any deal to sell Canos, as they plot to "follow model of Real Madrid and Barcelona."
Barcelona's move to re-sign Denis Suarez from Villarreal this summer, as well as Real's acquisition of Alvaro Morata from Juventus, saw both La Liga giants trigger buy-back clauses in their former players' contracts, allowing them to secure high-value talents for fees below what the normal transfer market would dictate.
This is a situation that would have benefited Liverpool in terms of a number of their former youth stars in recent years:
- Mikel San Jose, sold to Athletic Bilbao for £2.6 million in 2010
- Daniel Ayala, sold to Norwich City for £850,000 in 2011
- Emiliano Insua, sold to Sporting CP for £3.7 million in 2011
- Jonjo Shelvey, sold to Swansea City for £6 million in 2013
- Suso, sold to AC Milan for £920,000 in 2015
(Transfer fees courtesy of LFCHistory.net)
While it is likely only San Jose would have enjoyed regular game time under the likes of Klopp and former manager Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, the option of a buy-back clause is often employed with the intention of then selling the player on for a higher fee—with the Press Association (h/t the Mirror) reporting that Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are among those looking to sign Morata on his return to the Santiago Bernabeu.
This may be the case with Canos in the future, particularly if he spurs the Canaries to promotion back to the Premier League, and Liverpool may have protected one of their brightest assets with a sensible, hardline business decision this summer.
Cameron Brannagan, Wigan Athletic and Rejection
Perhaps the most encouraging move by the Reds' transfer heads in terms of youth this summer, however, was their outright rejection of an offer from Championship outfit Wigan Athletic for under-21s captain Cameron Brannagan.
According to the Liverpool Echo's Pearce, "Wigan were willing to pay in excess of £1 million to buy Brannagan but they were informed he’s neither for sale nor available for loan."
"Brannagan has also attracted interest from Premier League new boys Middlesbrough but Liverpool have made it clear his immediate future remains at Anfield," he continued, before later adding that "talks are expected to begin over the coming weeks with Brannagan set to pen a new long-term deal on improved terms."
Having already sanctioned the departures this summer of Sinclair, Rossiter, Joao Carlos Teixeira and Daniel Trickett-Smith—four of the players routinely held up as bright hopes for the future in recent seasons—that Liverpool are steadfast in their attempts to secure Brannagan's future is refreshing.
Brannagan made nine appearances for the Liverpool first team in 2015/16 and particularly impressed against West Brom on the final day of the league season. As Pearce suggests, "Klopp currently views him as an important member of the first-team squad."
Along with fellow midfielder Pedro Chirivella and winger Sheyi Ojo, Brannagan is one of the finest talents in the Liverpool academy, with potential to contribute to Klopp's squad in 2016/17.
It may be Pearce's assertion that the 20-year-old is a "model professional" that is most important to Klopp, aligning himself with the German's comments on youth development in January.
As he is with his first-team squad this summer, Klopp is working swiftly to clear out the deadwood in Liverpool's academy—be that in terms of playing ability or mental application—and that Liverpool are matching this with a hardline business stance is a positive sign for the future.
The Reds have an exceptional academy setup capable of producing Premier League-standard talents, season after season; it's Klopp's job to recognise these talents, and it's the club's continued role to remain firm in their attempts to keep them.
Statistics via Transfermarkt.co.uk.
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