Liverpool’s former director of football Damien Comolli has slammed our window in the transfer market, claiming we’ve made the same mistakes this time as we did in 2014, talkSPORT reports.
After offloading Luis Suarez last year, we spent an enormous amount of money on Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Lazar Markovic, Rickie Lambert, Mario Balotelli, Alberto Moreno, Emre Can and Divock Origi – but sadly – they collectively failed to plug the hole gap by the Uruguayan’s absence. We finished the season in sixth having ended as runners-up in 2013/14.
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With a £49m windfall this time around from the Raheem Sterling sale, we had the chance to reinvest in the squad once more – and on the surface – have invested it wisely.
James Milner, Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Bogdan, Roberto Firmino, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez and now Christian Benteke have finalised deals – meaning we’ve signed 15 first-teamers in two summers.
Comolli thinks it will end in disaster.
“I thought it was a huge risk last year after selling [Luis] Suarez and bringing in, I think, nine. Now they have decided to change a lot again and totally rebuild. That is always a massive, massive risk,” he began.
“They have bought in players who have got talent, but they are going to compete against some very settled teams.
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“Arsenal, United, City and Chelsea are making some very subtle adjustments to their squad and, on the other hand, Liverpool are changing everything every year. I’m not convinced it is the right approach.
“It is too much [to overhaul the squad] in two off-seasons. When you gamble as much money as they did last summer, you have got to give players a chance, and changing everything again sends the message to the players brought in last summer that they will not get a chance.
“By the time everyone settles into the team, and the players coming from abroad get used to the Premier League, they might be well behind fourth place.
“It is a huge risk. If you look at the stability of City, Chelsea, Arsenal throughout the years – the proof is in the pudding.”
Some of Comolli’s points are valid – but he’s hardly in a position where he has a right to make them. The Frenchman sanctioned £35m and £20m deals for Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing respectively, and was sacked in 2012 by FSG as a result (via Telegraph).
It remains to see whether Comolli is right, but our business this summer has more a sense of ‘here and now’, with direct positions being specifically targeted and strengthened. Clyne is an improvement on the right-back Glen Johnson, Milner boosts the midfield – while Firmino and Benteke have been signed to score the goals we so badly lacked in 2014/15.
We’re hopeful, even if Comolli is not.