Liverpool FC: Will Their New Transfer Policy Lead Them to Success?

The seemingly imminent transfer of Jordan Henderson to Liverpool is a further statement of intent from the club’s new owners.

It shows that they respect the fans' desire to have more British players in the squad, that they are serious about committing to the club and that they are likely going to be around for years to come.

Over 121 signings were brought in under the reign of foreign coaches Benitez and Houllier, many of them coming from the managers' respective homelands—many of them proving to be expensive flops.

Alberto Aquillani anyone?

The £35 million capture of Andy Carroll has made Liverpool’s resurgent transfer policy public and is gaining attraction from fans and the media alike. Rumoured interest in Blackburn’s Phil Jones, Ipswich’s Connor Wickham and Villa’s Ashley Young only reinforces the notion that the new owners want to create a British legacy at Anfield.

But, is this the right path to follow?

Carroll’s transfer has already shown that buying young, British talent isn’t cheap.

The forthcoming capture of Henderson and £16 million release clause in Phil Jones’ contract only reaffirms this fact.

It is doubtless that more value can be found overseas. Tottenham’s £8 million capture of Raphael Van Der Vaart is a prime example of the quality that can be acquired internationally (and at a lower price tag!).

Liverpool also runs the risk of their promising new signings turning into expensive flops.

While rivals Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and City are turning their eyes to young and experienced foreign stars (such as Eden Hazard, David De Gea and Marek Hamsik), Liverpool is running the risk that they could fall further behind if their signings fail to live up to their hype.

It should be noted, however, that Liverpool has not turned their backs on investing in foreign talent, as shown by the capture of Luis Suarez.

In order to be competitive in the Premier, some overseas help is needed—there simply is not enough talent in the UK to fill an 11-man British team and expect to win week in and week out.

Despite the obvious risks, Liverpool’s desire to bolster their squad with the best of British talent must be applauded. Theory dictates that the demise of England’s national team is due to the current influx of foreign players playing in the Premier League.

Liverpool is trying to stand against this.

More importantly, and perhaps for more legitimate reasons, it ties in with the new homegrown player rule that the FA is enforcing on Premier League clubs. By having a large proportion of their squad trained within England, Liverpool should be immune to any future policies the FA may choose to implement.

It is unlikely that the Anfield outlet will be able to churn out talent at the same rate that they did in the 90s anytime soon—meaning that investment in young, but experienced, English talent is the way to go.

Many of the players that Liverpool is connected with are young; some well under the age of 21.

Under the eye of Dalglish and his backroom staff, Liverpool will be able to build a team centred on young talent, which should blossom into a team of superstars.

In Danny Wilson, Andy Carroll and Jonjo Shelvey, Liverpool already has three of Britain’s most talented youngsters; the acquisition of Henderson and Phil Jones, in particular, will form a solid spine for Liverpool’s team. Under the supervision of Gerrard and Carragher the true potential of these youngsters could easily be fully exploited.

Another cause for optimism amongst the fans is the fact that such investment shows that NESV is serious about committing their future to the club.

After the turbulent reign of Hicks and Gillett, and having three managers within a year, the one thing Liverpool needs is stability. The club's debts have been cleared and a large transfer kitty has been handed to manager Kenny Dalglish.

It is doubtful that the American company would want to turn their backs on Merseyside without seeing profit in the form of trophies in the years to come.

Stability finally seems to have arrived at Anfield.

The backroom set-up must also be applauded.

The combination of Kenny Dalglish (as manager) and Damien Comolli (as Director of Football) seems to be a far more harmonious pairing than the partnership the Frenchman formed with Martin Jol at Tottenham several seasons ago.

It has already overseen the acquisitions of Carroll and Suarez and shows that Liverpool is finally spending big on quality rather than quantity. Provided that there isn’t a repeat of what happened at White Hart Lane, the combination of Dalglish and Comoli can only bring more stability to Anfield.

The omens are good for Liverpool; fans need only to look at the success that John Henry and NESV have brought to the Boston Red Sox in the eight years since their purchase. The Red Sox have won two World Series, including their first in 86 years, and have been competitive in all of their other seasons as well.

Surely this is a good omen for Liverpool fans.

Another positive that fans must look at is the transfer policy Dalglish adopted during his tenure at Blackburn.

The Scott opted to turn his attention to British talent (such as David Batty, Tim Flowers and Chris Sutton). Many might also recall the expensive capture of a certain young Geordie striker by the name of Alan Shearer, and we all know about their title triumph in the 1994-95 season.

Anyone notice a similarity between now and then?

Liverpool’s re-emergence into a top force in England may take longer than a season. The club was slowly left to decay over the period of several seasons, and it could take time to fill in all of the cracks left by Benitez’s tenure.

Kenny Dalglish and New England Sports Ventures, however, are no strangers to success; it could be sooner rather than later that the Kop sees a major trophy return to Anfield.