How Liverpool FC have evolved in the transfer market

 InJanuary 2011, Liverpool paid Newcastle United a club record transfer fee of £35 million for Andy Carroll.

Two and a half years later, he left the club to join West Ham United in a £15m deal- and became another costly mistake at Anfield. Once Brendan Rodgers was unveiled as Liverpool manager last summer, you felt Carroll’s time was limited. Only the lack of attacking options at Rogers disposal looked likely to spare him the ignominy of being shuffled out the backdoor having barely set foot on the Anfield turf.

In the end, not even the paucity of forward options saved him as he was farmed out to West Ham on loan- the team he has now joined permanently.

Not so long ago you’d meet Liverpool fans everywhere you went. These days you seem to only bump into a group of people that call themselves Liverpool ‘apologists’; you know, the ones who deliver news of their footballing allegiance though that weird contrite sort-of grin plastered across their face.

A strange phenomenon it certainly is, but understandable too given the reckless transfer dealings and their side’s inevitable deterioration they’ve had to endure.

Fortunately, that seems to be over.

Brendan Rodgers may or may not return Liverpool to its past glories, or indeed to what would constitute ‘glory’ of some degree these days: Champions League qualification. He is however, making a better fist of it than his predecessors.

Once the title challenge of 2008/09 was scuppered by his old nemesis Alex Ferguson and his Manchester United side, Rafa Benitez struggled to keep the Anfield ship afloat but ultimately lost the plot just a little.

While the merits of Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish can be debated, the bottom line is that neither came close to rediscovering said ‘plot’ during their time in charge. Instead, Liverpool floated further towards Premier League obscurity and as far as the top teams were concerned, irrelevance.

Rodgers however has instilled hope in the club again. He, at least, seems to be working from a blueprint which along with Fenway Sports Group has delivered a host of youthful, exciting talent.

Dalglish also invested in youth at times. Problem was he paid exorbitant prices for the likes of Carroll and Jordan Henderson. He did unearth Luis Suarez which at times has looked like the sole reason for keeping Liverpool competitive, but overall his transfer dealings were well below par.

His successor may have had a less than inspiring start, signing Fabio Borini for £10.4m and Joe Allen for £15m. Both smacked of the previous regime paying over the odds for decent but less than elite talent.

Since though, Rodgers has taken a gamble on Daniel Sturridge which appears to have worked out, and convinced Philippe Coutinho to bring his considerable array of skills to Anfield.

And the evolution of the squad has continued apace this off-season.

Luis Alberto (20), Iago Aspas (25) and Simon Mignolet (25) all have the potential to be top-class players. Better still they’re all improving and coming into the best years of their careers.

Contrast this to the players Rodgers has shown the door to: Fabio Aurélio (33), Dirk Kuyt (32), Maxi Rodriguez (32), Craig Bellamy (33), Joe Cole (31) and a few more besides.

The average age of players that have left under the former Swansea manager is 28.4. The average of those he has recruited, 23.4.

Transfers to date have totalled £73.7m with £26.8m reportedly recouped in sales. All of which adds up to a net spend of under £50m. Not bad given today’s transfer market, or indeed in light of paying £35m for one player a little over two years ago.

It will not be easy for Liverpool to break into the top four next season, but then again it’s never likely to be easy. Perhaps with the managerial changes at the top clubs, there is scope for improvement amongst the chasing pack of Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool.

Both North London clubs may well be improved next season, but so too will Liverpool. They are again at least looking likely to challenge near the summit of the table.

Of course, the great variable in all of this is the future of Luis Suarez.

The way Rodgers summer recruitment has gone thus far though, you wouldn’t bet against him recruiting another serious talent if Suarez ups and leaves- as seems likely. Of course, Rodgers would prefer to hang onto Suarez, but if he can’t he’ll surely be given the cash to spend on a replacement.

For the first time in a long time, logic, planning and vision seem to be guiding Liverpool’s transfer dealings.

For that at least their fans can be thankful.