Does anyone on here (Mick, BBB, KS67, etc) really look at the likes of Mane and Gini as lower quality options than the other players we missed out on?
Yes, over the last six or seven years this has absolutely been the case.
I think we may have dodged a bullet when it comes to Gotze specifically because he can't stop eating pies.
But the overall point stands, when we won't spend the same in wages or in fees as the clubs above us then it requires us to be nearly perfect in the transfer window to continual close the gap.
Our league finishes have not been of a side that is closing the gap, that applies to all but one season since FSG took over. If the club is habitually settling for non-priority targets, especially if they then move to clubs with less financial power than ourselves, it begs the question how the f**k can we reasonably close the gap?
What bothers me more than the club settling for second best is that some fans, in a bid to look like bastions of unbreakable faith, will attempt to make excuses, distort reality or simply never mention this obvious pattern.
If you like Wijnaldum then fair fucks. If you think he is the best possible central midfielder we could have signed last summer then fair fucks.
But don't pretend he was the first choice of Klopp or the club.
Secondly, we have all seen discussions of potential signings where people rightly recognise that the player doesn't fit what is the 'right profile' for our transfer strategy.
At this stage it cannot be a shock to anyone to here that Liverpool FC is largely looking to sign young players with the potential not the finished product. But the reality is, despite being one of the richest clubs in the world, we don't even do this strategy well.
For example, Mbappe is probably going to leave Monaco soon. Is young, bags of potential and could be a genuine star for years to come.
By our own owners strategy this would make him an absolute gold standard player to pursue, but we all have to be honest and admit that when he (or other players of that ilk move) Liverpool FC won't be within a country mile of the negotiations. The only player that meets that criteria we have actually managed to sign is Firmino, he is the lone example.
Sign the best players.
Or sign the best young players..
Both make sense to me, but this club does neither. Is it any wonder we continually languish in midtable?
I've developed an easy system for this summers transfer window, it's based entirely on what has happened under FSG in previous windows it goes like this.
1. Liverpool want a player.
2. Does anyone else vaguely as good or better than Liverpool also want that player?
3. Liverpool will end up not managing to sign that player.
4. Liverpool will brief journalists they tried but it's hard to compete
5. Repeat forever.
It will simple but will serve you well this summer.
