The Reds have almost completely overhauled their midfield for the same amount of money it would have taken to sign the England international
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp knew exactly what he would be asked in his first press conference after it had been revealed that the club had pulled out of the race to sign Jude Bellingham. "What you want to know is, as I sit here, am I angry with our owners (Fenway Sports Group) that we can’t do this or that? No I am not. I am not," the German insisted back in April.
"I don’t agree all the time with everything we do, but I am employed here. I am not here to be angry about things that will work out or not work out. The way we did things in the past is the way we will do it in the future, that is the way."
However, while Klopp may not have been angry, the fans were furious. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher spoke for many of his fellow Scousers when he said that "after a year working on a deal, it feels like a timid surrender to step aside and allow Manchester City and Real Madrid to fight it out."
"Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp built a level of trust with regards to transfers which was the envy of Europe," Carragher wrote in . "That trust has gone with news they will not be pursuing Jude Bellingham this summer. Everything pointed to waiting for Bellingham. The supporters were sold the dream that the next Steven Gerrard was Anfield-bound."
He added: "There are times when a club of Liverpool's stature has to flex some muscle and remind their rivals they can and will be there to compete off and on the pitch. To walk away because there is now too much work needed across the whole squad smacks of weakness, negligence and poor planning."
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A season wasted waiting for Bellingham
Indeed, what really incensed the supporters was the claim that FSG had ended their interest in Bellingham for financial reasons, as if they had only just realised that Borussia Dortmund would demand a fee in excess of £100 million ($120m) for the most south-after midfielder on the market.
Consequently, their entire pursuit of the 'perfect' signing felt like a complete waste of time, time that really should have been spent reinforcing the midfield last summer, ahead of a campaign in which Klopp's engine room inevitably – but abruptly – ran out of steam.
Liverpool tried to sign Aurelien Tchouameni but ended up with Arthur Melo. Unsurprisingly, they paid a heavy price. The team that had come within two games of a quadruple the season before failed to even finish in the top four of the Premier League, meaning the Reds failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2016.
There was, therefore, an understandable fear among the fans that Liverpool would fail to land any of their top transfer targets this summer.
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The signing of the summer so far
However, less than three weeks since the window opened, they have already significantly strengthened their midfield with two excellent additions – and for roughly the same amount of money that Real Madrid paid for Bellingham.
The acquisition of Alexis Mac Allister for just £35m ($44m) is the signing of the summer so far. The Argentine was one of the best players in the Premier League last season, a key cog and the top scorer (10 goals) in a wonderful Brighton team that qualified for Europe for the first time in the club's history.
Even more impressively, he played a pivotal role in his country's World Cup win. Mac Allister was left on the bench for the duration of Argentina's shock 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their tournament-opener, but he started every game thereafter, scoring the vital opening goal in the must-win group-stage clash with Poland and providing the assist for Angel Di Maria's strike in the final win over France.
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'Messi was looking for Mac Allister'
What really stood out in Qatar, was Mac Allister's almost total understanding of the game at the age of 24, which enables him to interpret a variety of roles. "It was so special watching him during the World Cup," Brighton attacking midfielder and former Liverpool favourite Adam Lallana told podcast in January. "Not playing to begin with but then him proving himself… and playing so well that there's no way this guy doesn't play!
"Then, by the end, to see (Lionel) Messi looking for him… Messi was looking for him to link, to play! Alexis' role was to almost mirror where Messi was. Whether Messi was deep, he would take high positions. If Messi was high, he would drop. That just shows how much he understands – his football intelligence. Okay, he's not the quickest or the strongest, but he's so smart, like (Luka) Modric. He knows that football is faster than anyone, or anything."
Fellow new signing Dominik Szoboszlai is a little bit quicker than Mac Allister, but they are similar players in the sense that the Hungarian is a multi-talented midfielder of invaluable versatility.
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'As talented as Haaland'
According to Jesse Marsch, Szoboszlai's former boss at both Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig, "As talent goes, there aren't many better players that can play his position. Some are strong, some are technical, some are good tactically, and some can defend well or run a lot. However, Dominik is special because he has all of these skills combined. Dominik is just as talented as Erling Haaland."
Klopp is clearly keen to avoid such bold statements, and that is wholly understandable. Liverpool may have paid £60m ($76m) for Szoboszlai, but he is still only 22. Then, there's the fact that the last midfielder the Reds signed from Leipzig, Naby Keita, has just left Anfield as arguably the most disappointing signing in the club's history – certainly in terms of hype.
Keita was meant to be perfect for Liverpool, a player capable of doing it all, and yet he ended up doing absolutely nothing. Injury didn't help, but there was also the fact that he wasn't very good.
Klopp's caution is unsurprising, then. "There is no pressure," the manager insisted. "Dominik is still a very young player. He has so much development ahead of him and this means it makes sense for us all to be patient and to give him the time and space to allow his talent to come through within our team."